Kamala Harris made a very big assumption regarding the debate, and now she is paying a big price.
Harris was counting on Trump agreeing to unmute the microphones, which was at the center of her debate strategy, and now her team is reportedly scrambling at the last minute after Trump and ABC News held firm on the microphones remaining muted during the debate.
Talking Points…
- Debate rules
- Harris scrambling
- Analysis
The rules for the debate had actually been agreed upon by Joe Biden when he was still running for office. Trump agreed to every request by Biden, which included having the microphones muted. When Biden dropped out, and Harris entered, her campaign tried to change the rules that had already been agreed upon, but both ABC News and Trump declined.
Harris then started to apply pressure to Trump, mocking him on social media, saying he was scared to engage Harris in a meaningful conversation. In reality, Harris just wanted Trump to interrupt her so she could have the same moment she had against former Vice President Pence. Trump was smart, however, and refused to give in to the taunting.
Harris campaign stated that she wanted the microphones unmuted:
"So that the vice president could lean on her prosecutorial background, confronting the former president in the same way she laced into some of Trump's Supreme Court nominees and Cabinet members during Senate hearings."
With Trump and ABC News refusing to budge, Harris found herself only days away from the debate, having to completely retool her debate strategy since the microphones would be cut between exchanges. To that point, Politico reported:
"Kamala Harris had planned to object, fact-check and directly question Donald Trump while he was speaking during their debate next week.
"But now, with rules just finalized to mute the candidates when their opponents speaks, campaign officials said Harris advisers are scrambling to rewrite their playbook."
The funny thing about all this is that the unmuting would have worked both ways. Harris and Democrats have been lying through their teeth about Trump policies as well as debunked talking points, but we all know the media does not check Democrats like they do Trump. Regardless, now Harris is whining that she is being "handcuffed" by the rules in place, claiming they are protecting Trump, but again, these rules were all requested by Joe Biden.
One Democrat strategist commented on the rules, stating:
"It was a bad set of rules for someone [Biden] who needed to be protected, who never should've been on the debate stage. And now they're stuck with it."
I love the comment by the Democrat strategist because leading up to that debate, they all claimed that Biden was going to crush Trump and that Biden was fine, but boy, how that tune has changed. James Carville did not take the news as bad, saying that the muted microphones would also block Trump from his expected antics.
For me, the rules worked perfectly the last time in terms of enjoying the debate. The GOP primary debates were a debacle, with people screaming over each other throughout the event. I like the no audience and muted microphones because they force everyone to be respectful and allow you to hear their answers. We are also seeing more questions asked, which is what we all wanted. I, for one, am very much looking forward to seeing how Trump does tonight and if he can halt the Harris momentum and get this race back on track.
