Republican Presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump has shown continual reluctance to participate in the September 10 Presidential Debate on the ABC News network. The issue had been brewing for a few days until Trump took to Truth Social on Sunday to threaten pulling out of the pre-scheduled Debate with his Democrat rival and Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Trump’s supposed issues with the network
Donald Trump censured the News channel after the appearance of Arkansas Senator and fellow Republican Tom Cotton on ABC’s This Week interview with Jonathan Karl. He accused the panel of being “biased” “Trump haters”. Bestowing upon the network the epithet of “FAKE NEWS”, Trump publicly questioned why he would choose to debate on such a platform.
Trump’s resentment against the network is not limited to his indignation for Cotton. He had also sued the news network and its host George Stephanopoulos back in March. The lawsuit involves defamation allegations against ABC for having said that Trump is liable for “rape” instead of “sexual abuse” of journalist and author E. Jean Carroll.
The 78-year-old Republican had also stated a few weeks ago that he was considering whether there was any need for the debate. Americans are aware of both their (Harris and Trump’s) stances and he has been leading in the polls, he said in an interview on the Fox Business Network.
The Hot Mic Dispute
The dispute intensified after Kamala Harris and the Democrats demanded that the microphones not be turned off at all through the debate. They asked that the mics remain hot, even when the candidate is not speaking.
This has been a common practice in the Presidential Debate of America through history, except for the debate in June 2024 when Biden’s campaign negotiated to have his mics turned off when it is not the candidate’s turn. It is apparent that Harris and her team are trying to pressurize Trump into making an unwitting error on the mic.
Though the former President has claimed that he is utterly confident about the upcoming debate, so much so that he does not feel the need to “prepare” and that he prefers the mics to stay hot as well, he remains firm on not wanting to make the modification now. The Harris Campaign previously agreed to these rules and is now trying to make changes like having seated debates and passing notes, his campaign declared.
Harris’ and the Democrats react
It is noteworthy that when the Democrats had agreed to not have a hot mic debate, Trump was competing against President Biden. Kamala Harris in a rally at Atlanta alluded to Trump’s reluctance to participate in the debate by saying that if he has anything to say to her, he should say it to her face.
The Democrats mocked the ex- President for refusing to go live on the hot mic. An official of the Harris campaign, Brian Fallon stated that the Republicans do not want the mics to remain on as they fear that their candidate cannot “act presidential for 90 minutes”.
