US election debate in the balance as Trump threatens to pull out over microphone dispute
Harris’s campaign alleged that Trump’s camp was vying to keep the mics off to protect him from any off-colour comments or if he loses his temper during the debate.
“We believe both candidates’ mics should be live throughout the full broadcast,” Harris communication director Brian Fallon said in a statement.
He alleged that “Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes”.
It was a condition negotiated by Biden, and one that was meant to apply to the September debate on ABC as well.
But Harris, who replaced Biden after his disastrous performance at the CNN debate, is pushing for a return to the norm of keeping microphones on.
The Trump camp maintains that the debate should occur under the already agreed conditions.
Trump himself further muddied the waters on Monday when referring to his mic, saying “I don’t know, doesn’t matter to me. I’d rather have it probably on”, according to video broadcast by NBC.
“The agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted,” he said.
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Trump also attacked Harris, calling her “not a smart person” and alleging that “she doesn’t want to debate”.
Biden’s calamitous performance in the last debate on top of slippage in the polls sounded the death knell for his campaign.
Harris, who is slightly ahead of Trump in polling, is hoping to maintain her momentum or even widen the gap.