Vice President Kamala Harris agreed to the final rules for the ABC News debate against former President Trump, allegedly following a few “assurances” from the network.
On Wednesday, ABC News released the official rules for Tuesday’s debate between Harris and Trump, including the hotly contested rule that microphones be muted while a candidate is speaking.
The Harris campaign repeatedly pushed back on this rule, attempting to goad Trump into backing out of the original agreement to mute mics, even refusing to sign off on the rules last week in an attempt to renegotiate.
CNN reported Wednesday that Harris accepted the rules after receiving separate “assurances” that mics could be turned on during the debate and the moderators would explain unheard exchanges.
The Harris campaign allegedly wrote a letter to ABC News confirming Vice President Kamala Harris’ participation in the debate. (AP/Stephen B. Morton)
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“ABC News has offered assurances to the Harris campaign that if there is significant cross talk between Harris and Trump, the network may choose to turn on the mics so that the public can understand what is happening, the moderator would discourage either candidate from interrupting constantly and the moderator would also work to explain to viewers what is being said, according to the source familiar,” CNN reported.
The source allegedly added that pool reporters will also be in the room to report on what could be heard while mics are muted to TV audiences.
An ABC spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Beyond the debate rules published today, which were mutually agreed upon by two campaigns on May 15, we have made no other agreements. We look forward to moderating the presidential debate next Tuesday.”
The Harris campaign sent a letter to the network officially accepting the debate rules while still complaining about the terms.
“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. We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones,” the letter read.
Harris’ campaign has demanded ABC News change the rule regarding microphones being muted during the debate. (Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
It continued, “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. For this reason, we accept the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones.”
After President Biden dropped out of the race in July, the Harris campaign insisted on moving forward with the previously agreed upon ABC presidential debate. However, weeks after Trump acquiesced, the Harris campaign began trying to change the rules to make the microphones live throughout the event.
Harris and former President Donald Trump have sparred over the debate rules regarding the upcoming ABC News presidential debate. (Getty Images)
Though Trump expressed openness to the idea, both he and his campaign attacked the Harris campaign for suddenly demanding changes.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Lindsay Kornick is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to lindsay.kornick@fox.com and on Twitter: @lmkornick.
