Harris Campaign Agrees to Muted Mic Rule for Debate

On Wednesday, the Harris campaign agreed to the contested rule that microphones be muted when it isn't a candidate's turn to speak during the upcoming presidential debate, after receiving assurance that the moderators would explain unheard exchanges.

Key Details: Both the Harris and Trump campaigns have agreed to the ground debate rules laid out by ABC News (Lean Left bias), which will host the debate on Tuesday, September 10th. In addition to muted mics, the candidates have agreed to stand behind their lecterns during the 90-minute debate and will not be allowed to bring pre-written notes or props on stage.

Key Quotes: “Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President,” the campaign wrote in a letter to ABC News. “Notwithstanding our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format. We do not want to jeopardize the debate.” The Trump campaign said in a statement, it was “thrilled that Kamala Harris and her team of Biden campaign leftovers” have “accepted the already agreed-upon rules.”

For Context: The debate will take place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and be the first between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.

How the Media Covered it: HuffPost (Left bias) reported that Trump had previously threatened to bail on the debate, calling ABC News "fake news" on Truth Social. Fox News (Right bias) reported that the Trump campaign had already agreed to muted mics, but the Harris campaign had believed that Trump might be goaded into backing out of the agreement.