Former President Donald Trump has suggested he may withdraw from a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC, as the Republican candidate accuses the network of bias and both sides are arguing over whether the candidates’ microphones should be turned off.
Trump criticized ABC, which is set to host the September 10 debate, after visiting Arlington Military Cemetery to mark the third anniversary of the Kabul airport attack.
This is the worst network in terms of dishonesty
Trump said, adding that ABC “should be shut down.” A day earlier, he attacked the network in a similar tone on his social media site, Truth Social, asking:
Why would I debate Kamala Harris on this network?
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Personnel dispute
Politico and other media outlets reported that the two sides were discussing the rules for the matchup, which will take place in Philadelphia. The main question is whether the hosts will be able to turn off the candidates’ microphones, as happened during the Trump-Biden debate on CNN on June 27. Kamala Harris’s team wants the microphones to be on all the time, while Trump’s camp prefers to keep them muted.
We understand that Trump’s people prefer mute microphones because they don’t think he can act as president alone for 90 minutes.
Harris’s team said in a statement. The vice president’s team suggested that the Republican candidate himself was unaware of his team’s demands because his people were embarrassed to tell him that they doubted he would be able to conduct himself appropriately.
When asked about this on Monday, Trump himself said he would prefer the microphones to be on all the time, but added that both teams had already agreed to two debates on the same terms.
The ABC debate in Philadelphia is the only scheduled televised showdown between the candidates so far. Since Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee, however, Trump has repeatedly suggested he might pull out of the ABC debate, proposing showdowns on Fox News and CNN. He has also praised CNN, which hosted the first debate — which led to President Biden’s withdrawal. The network has been criticized for its lack of response to the candidates’ misstatements and distortions.
gah/PAP
