Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Zach Jewell.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump blasted the Kamala Harris campaign on Monday for pushing to change the rules for the upcoming ABC News debate, saying that Harris and her team are looking for a way to
"get out" of the event.
POLITICO reported that the Harris campaign is requesting a change from previously agreed-upon rules that would mute the microphone of the candidate who was not speaking. The Harris campaign argues that the rule was agreed upon between Trump and President Joe Biden for the June 27 CNN debate and the September 10 ABC News debate before Biden dropped out and Harris became the Democratic nominee.
Trump responded to the Harris campaign's recent move, saying the vice president
"doesn't want to debate."
"We agreed to the same rules. I don't know. It doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have [the microphones] probably on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time," Trump said.
"In that case, it was muted. I didn't like it the last time, but it worked out fine. I mean, ask Biden how it worked out. It was fine, and I think it should be the same. We agreed to the same rules and same specifications, and I think that's probably what it should be, but they're trying to change it. The truth is, they're trying to get out of it because she doesn't want to debate. She's not a good debater. She's not a smart person. She doesn't want to debate."
Brian Fallon, senior communications adviser for Harris' campaign, told POLITICO that the campaign informed ABC
"that we believe both candidates' mics should be live throughout the full broadcast." The Harris team believes that if Trump's mic remains on for the entirety of the debate, he would likely interrupt Harris or say something that would hurt his performance in the eyes of voters.
"Our understanding is that Trump's handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don't think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own," Fallon added.
"We suspect Trump's team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don't think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button."
Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro said on Monday that the ploy from the Harris campaign is
"pathetic and obvious."
"The only reason she wants a hot mic is so she can pull the same dumb crap she pulled with Pence, the 'I'm speaking' moment when Trump interjects something," Shapiro wrote.
Trump senior adviser Jason Miller also claimed that the Harris campaign wanted to switch to a seated debate with notes, an allegation the Harris campaign denies.
"Enough with the games. We accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate. The Harris camp, after having already agreed to the CNN rules, asked for a seated debate, with notes, and opening statements. We said no changes to the agreed upon rules," Miller said.
"If Kamala Harris isn't smart enough to repeat the messaging points her handlers want her to memorize, that's their problem. This seems to be a pattern for the Harris campaign. They won't allow Harris to do interviews, they won't allow her to do press conferences, and now they want to give her a cheat-sheet for the debate. My guess is that they're looking for a way to get out of any debate with President Trump."
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