Campaigns had clashed over whether candidates should be audible while opponent is speaking
Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have accepted the rules for the first presidential debate in Philadelphia, due to air on ABC next week, the network said on Wednesday – including muted mics when the other candidate is speaking.
ABC News said in a release that Harris, the Democratic nominee, and Trump, her Republican rival, “have qualified for the debate under the established criteria, and both have accepted the following debate rules”.
The Trump and Harris campaigns had been in dispute over the debate guidelines, including over whether microphones should be shut off when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. The Harris campaign had previously pushed for live, or “hot”, microphones, arguing that it would “fully allow for substantive exchanges between the candidates”. Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, had been pressing for them to be turned off.
The statement released by ABC made it clear that candidates’ microphones would be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak – and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.
