Kamala Harris made a big deal about Donald Trump sticking to the agreement he had with Joe Biden on debates, that is until it came time to debate.
Harris wanted to have the microphones unmuted in the hopes that she could tell Trump to shut up if he interrupted her, but ABC News finally responded, and it would not change the rule on her request.
Talking Points…
- I'm talking moment
- Request denied
- Analysis
If you recall, Harris debated Mike Pence during the 2020 election cycle. While discussing taxes, Harris claimed that Joe Biden would not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 per year. Pence laughed at the idea, interrupting Harris, which is when Harris had her moment, telling Pence:
"Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.
"If you don't mind letting me finish, we can both have a conversation."
The media ate this moment up, patting itself and Harris on the back for shutting Pence down in that moment. Mind you, had Pence done something similar, there would have been outrage and accusations of mansplaining, not to mention the racial attacks Pence would have faced, but I digress.
When Biden and Trump set up the debate rules, the Biden campaign requested the microphones be muted so there would not be any crosstalk. Harris hoped to change that rule now that she is in there for Joe Biden, but Trump did not want to cave. I had written in my last report that Trump should hold firm on this, if not for anything else than to knock Harris off her game and not cave to her. Trump held firm. Not to mention, any criticism of the rule is actually a criticism against Biden, not Trump, because it is Biden who set all the rules for the original debates.
Harris has been trying to lure Trump into agreeing to have the microphones unmuted, now claiming that Trump is afraid to engage Harris in debate during an answer. But again, let's remember that Joe Biden, not Trump, made this initial request. And since this worked out so well for Trump during the first debate, why would he give in? Harris had also requested that they be able to have notes to refer to during the debate.
ABC News has not backed down and informed both parties that the "CNN rules" that had been agreed upon when this debate was set up are still a "go." This is clearly a loss for Harris, and now her team is spinning the story to try to get Trump to make the concession. For instance, Harris spokesperson Brian Fallon stated:
"Our latest understanding is that even though Trump said Monday he would be fine with an unmuted mic, his handlers don't trust him to spar live with VP Harris and are asking ABC to ignore Trump's comments and keep the mics muted or else they will back out of the debate for a third time.
"We have been asked to accede to Trump's handlers' wishes on this point for the sake of preserving the debate. We find the Trump's team's stance to be weak, and remain in discussions with ABC on the final rules."
Trump adviser Jason Miller responded to the comment, stating:
"The Harris folks are completely full of it. Everything was agreed to and set last week.
"The Harris people are trying to distract and come up with something shiny to move away from the fact that she's not doing interviews."
I find it rather amusing that Harris' campaign is not only stealing Trump's platform, but now her spokespeople are using the same language Trump's campaign has been using against the Biden campaign. I am referring, of course, to the comment by Fallon in regard to Trump having "handlers." Trump did the right thing by not caving here, and he is now set up for a big night against Harris, and he will need it. If Trump wants to win this election, this is his one opportunity to derail Harris's momentum to this point.
