Former President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that an agreement has been reached between his campaign and Vice President Kamala Harris’s team regarding the September presidential debate hosted by ABC News.
In this debate, the candidates will be standing and will not be allowed to bring any notes, according to Trump.
Trump wrote that ABC has provided assurance that this debate will be fair and impartial, and that neither side will be given the questions in advance. However, he expressed disappointment that Harris has not agreed to debate him on Fox News on September 4th, but he is keeping that date open in case she changes her mind. Trump also mentioned that Harris’s team has not agreed to a possible third debate hosted by NBC News.
The Epoch Times has contacted Harris’s campaign, but they have not made any public comments regarding Trump’s statement.
Trump’s announcement came after he suggested on Truth Social on Sunday night that he might withdraw from the ABC News debate following what he perceived as a biased interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) by network host Jonathan Karl. He questioned why he should debate Kamala Harris on that network.
The following day, both the Harris and Trump campaigns issued conflicting statements on the debate, particularly regarding the possibility of muting microphones. An agreement between Trump and Biden for the CNN and ABC debates had already included muted microphones, which were implemented during the first debate.
Other rules that were in place during the CNN debate included two commercial breaks, no live audience, no opening statements, and strict time limits. Candidates were not allowed to use pre-prepared notes but were allowed to have a notepad, pen, and a bottle of water.
On Monday, Harris’s spokesperson Brian Fallon stated that the campaign wanted the microphones to remain on throughout the event and not be muted while the opponent was speaking.
In response, Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller issued a statement asserting that they had already agreed to the same terms as the June debate on CNN, which included muted microphones, and added that there would be no changes to the previously agreed-upon rules.
However, during an event in Virginia, Trump later told reporters that he preferred to keep his microphone on, as he did not like it to be muted in the previous debate. He also mentioned that he was not spending much time preparing for the face-off against his new rival.
Trump said, “It doesn’t matter to me. I’d rather have it, probably, on. But the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time.”
He continued, “I’m not spending a lot of time on it. I think my whole life I’ve been preparing for a debate… You can’t cram 30 years of knowledge into your head in one week. So, there’s a little debate prep, but I’ve always done it more or less the same way.”
The Trump campaign had proposed a September 4th debate on Fox News, and if Harris declined, it would have been a televised town hall with only Trump and host Sean Hannity. However, the Harris campaign has declined the invitation.
The vice presidential candidates, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), are scheduled to debate on October 1st on CBS News.
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