ABC's rules for debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris include muted mics and no audience

WASHINGTON, DC: ABC News announced on Wednesday, September 4, that former president Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have consented to the rules set by the network for their upcoming debate next week.

ABC News is set to host the presidential debate between Trump and Harris on Tuesday, September 10, which will be the first debate following President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 race in July.

The agreement on the rules by each candidate followed a dispute between the campaigns regarding the muting of microphones while the opposing candidate spoke.

ABC News announces presidential debate rules and format

Vice President Kamala Harris' team advocated for a rule change to leave microphones unmuted, however, ABC announced in a statement on Wednesday that microphones would be active only during a speaker's allotted time and muted during the opponent's turn.

The microphone rules are the same as those followed by Biden and Trump during their CNN debate in June.

The upcoming debate, moderated by ABC's David Muir and Linsey Davis, is scheduled to occur at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with no audience present. It will last for 90 minutes and will feature two commercial breaks.

In a virtual coin flip on Tuesday, September 3, Trump secured the win, which allowed him to choose the sequence of the debate's closing statements. He elected to give the final statement, while Harris chose the podium position on the right side of the screen, as per ABC's announcement.

The debate will commence without opening statements, and each candidate will be allotted two minutes for closing statements, as per the regulations, The Hill reported.

Candidates will have two minutes to respond to questions and two minutes for rebuttals, with an extra minute provided for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses. The rules prohibit candidates from posing questions to one another.

They will be provided with a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water, but prewritten notes or props are not permitted. Additionally, campaign staff are barred from interacting with their candidates during commercial breaks.

Kamala Harris' campaign raises concerns over debate rules

The campaign team for Kamal Harris has expressed concerns that the ABC News debate rules may put her at a "fundamental disadvantage" in the upcoming debate with Trump, reported Raw Story.

In a letter to the station, which MJ Lee of CNN obtained, Harris' team stated, "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."

"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 letter explained.

"Additionally, there would be pool reporters in the room during the debate who would presumably hear and report on any notable exchanges between Harris and Trump that are not picked up by mics/explained by moderators," Lee added.

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump trolled ahead of presidential debate

After ABC News announced the rules for the first debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, social media users took to X (formerly Twitter) to brutally troll both candidates.

One X user tweeted, "Kamala won't get her “im talking” moment. It was smart of Trump to hold the line. Now we will find out if Trump ends Kamala’s career in a week too."

Another said, "Kamala will be at a disadvantage because she doesn't deserve to be on the debate stage with Trump."

One person remarked, "So I guess she will have to drop her plan of interrupting Trump every question and preventing him from bringing up her record on the issues."

"Her own disadvantage is herself," another said while mocking Harris. 

Some netizens also mocked Trump, with one individual writing, "Muted or not muted he will still no answer one single question. And he will insult and lie."

Another commented, "Damn, was hoping mics would be open so Convicted Felon Trump could make a complete a**hole of himself."

"Looking forward to seeing Trump wipe the floor with her like he did with Biden," one X user added.

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