Trump and Harris have struggled to agree on a joint TV debate. There was a dispute over the rules. But even though there is now an agreement, Trump is still ranting against the broadcaster.
The Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her opponent Donald Trump have agreed on the rules for the upcoming TV debate – but the Republican is already sowing doubts about the impartiality of the broadcaster hosting the debate. “ABC is the worst broadcaster when it comes to fairness,” Trump said in a conversation with Fox News talk show host Sean Hannity. Without providing any evidence, Trump claimed that he “heard” Harris would receive the questions from ABC in advance.
Harris loses out in microphone dispute
ABC had previously published the rules for the eagerly awaited first televised debate between Trump and Harris. This was preceded by a dispute over the microphones. Specifically, the question was whether these would be muted when the political opponent was speaking. There now seems to be an agreement: During the TV debate on September 10 (local time/September 11 CEST), the microphones of the person who is not speaking will be muted.
Harris has now apparently given in. A spokesperson for the campaign team of Democrat Harris said last week that they preferred that both candidates’ microphones remain switched on during the entire broadcast. “We assume that Trump’s advisers prefer the silent microphone because they do not believe their candidate can behave in a presidential manner for 90 minutes,” they said in a statement. Harris wrote over the weekend: “Let’s debate in a transparent manner – with the microphones on the entire time.”
TV duel between Biden and Trump has an impact
Trump may have learned from the TV debate with the then Democratic presidential candidate, US President Joe Biden, in June. At the time, the microphones of the person who was not speaking were muted. The muting was reportedly done by Biden’s team. The Democrats wanted to prevent Trump from constantly interrupting the 81-year-old Democrat. After the debate, however, observers came to the conclusion that the muted microphones actually helped Trump because the 78-year-old seemed more controlled. Biden’s performance, on the other hand, was a disaster – and resulted in his withdrawal from the race.
Trump was upset that Harris wanted to change these rules and indirectly threatened to call off the entire TV debate. The debate between Trump and Biden at the time was hosted by the US broadcaster CNN, which is considered liberal, and now it is ABC’s turn. Trump called the broadcaster “dishonest” in his conversation with Hannity and referred to a friendship between Harris and a manager at the broadcaster. The Republican said he only agreed because Harris’ team insisted on the broadcaster. The 78-year-old had already agreed to the debate months ago, when Biden was still in the race.
Pen, paper and water are allowed
ABC has now announced that the debate will last 90 minutes, with two commercial breaks planned. There will be no opening statements, and the candidates’ closing statements will last two minutes. “Props or pre-written notes are not allowed on stage,” ABC said. Harris and Trump will receive a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water. Trump claimed on the Fox News show that Harris had demanded to be allowed to take notes with her to the debate.
Town hall at Fox News without viewer questions
Trump’s conversation with Hannity on Wednesday evening (local time) was a so-called town hall. In such a format, questions from the audience are also allowed. However, no viewer was allowed to speak in the approximately one-hour broadcast on Fox News, which was recorded in the contested state of Pennsylvania. “The Hill” reported that corresponding viewer questions to Trump were to be broadcast on Thursday. In the broadcast on Wednesday, Hannity praised the Republican candidate to the skies. He said, for example: “You paid a high price for entering the political arena.” Trump is being persecuted by the law, even though he could actually lead a good life for himself, said Hannity.
Fox News had distanced itself somewhat from Trump for a while – and was more supportive of the then Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. But the channel is now firmly behind Trump again. So far, there are no plans for Fox News to host a TV debate during the election campaign – even though Trump has repeatedly brought it up. It could well be that the debate on ABC will be the only one between Trump and Harris. After Biden dropped out of the race, the entire plan for the TV debates that had actually been negotiated was thrown out the window.
Close race expected
The presidential election on November 5 is head-to-head between Harris and Trump – polls show them roughly neck and neck. The small gap between the two candidates is within the margin of error. However, the race has gained new momentum with Harris’s assumption of the candidacy. Trump was apparently somewhat taken by surprise by the change in the Democrats – he seemed to have set his sights on his political arch-enemy Biden and is now working on a new strategy. He accuses Harris of being a radical leftist.
On Wednesday evening (local time), a well-known Trump critic spoke out: Republican Liz Cheney announced that she would vote for Harris in the election. The announcement is not really a surprise. But it is very unusual for die-hard Republicans to publicly call for people to vote for Democrats. At the same time, Trump was pleased that the brother of the Democratic vice-candidate Tim Walz had made critical comments about him. Corresponding Facebook posts by Jeff Walz had recently attracted attention.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
