Harris campaign agrees to muted mics in debate against Trump
Source: CBS News
Updated on: September 5, 2024 / 8:16 AM EDT
Washington Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign was unable to sway ABC News, the host of next week's presidential debate, to keep the microphones unmuted for the 90-minute debate against former President Donald Trump. Her campaign agreed to let the microphones remain muted when a candidate isn't speaking, according to a letter it sent to ABC News, ending the back-and-forth over the rules for the Sept. 10 debate.
"Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President. We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign's insistence on muted microphones," said the letter, which was obtained by CBS News.
The Harris campaign also told CBS News it was offered assurances as to how any crosstalk may be handled. The microphones may be unmuted if there is significant crosstalk between the candidates. A candidate who constantly interrupts their opponent will be warned by the moderator and their comments may be relayed to the audience. And, if the microphones don't pick up the exchanges, a group of reporters who will be in the room would report anything noteworthy.
"Notwithstanding our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format," the letter read. "We do not want to jeopardize the debate. For this reason, we accepted the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones."
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/harris-trump-debate-muted-mics-rules/

jimfields33
(19,382 posts)Media trying to make Vice president Harris look bad as always.
BumRushDaShow
(155,018 posts)In this case, she was trolling 45. I.e., "getting in his head".
Both Biden and Harris had originally agreed to muted mics at the start and when Biden dropped out, and she took over, the strategizing began to exploit 45's weaknesses, especially since he had been trying to completely dodge this debate. As of some stuff I saw last night, he is STILL trying to create an excuse to dodge it (supposedly something that he brought up at his "town hall" yesterday).
That ad that George Conway did (with the voices in 45's head) literally illustrates that!
jimfields33
(19,382 posts)Will be or wont he is his play.
BumRushDaShow
(155,018 posts)Irish_Dem
(71,363 posts)K doesn't care about the mic issue. She is fine either way.
She is just pushing Trump's buttons.
Rightly so.
Rocknation
(44,922 posts)...(M)uted mics turns Trump's greatest strength into a weakness...If he won't be able to bully, big lie, ramble, or interrupt via hot mics, then Trump has lost the debate already. In fact, I think the very reason why Kamala asked for hot mics -- so publicly and so quickly -- is precisely because it would "force" Trump to "disagree" and insist on muted ones. Rope-a-dope, anyone?

Rocknation
BumRushDaShow
(155,018 posts)was that the ones who WANTED the "muted mics" were from his campaign staff, NOT him. In this case, he didn't care. So this was goading and poking.
The media refuses to ever characterize the GOP as being "worried" or "concerned" because they have intentionally labeled Democrats with those ridiculous adjectives in order to prop up their GOP benefactors. But the reality in this case is that they ARE "worried" and his campaign's insistence on "managing his behavior", particularly in this instance, has been very clear.
onandup
(701 posts)On the other hand, Trump showed in 2020 he makes a mockery of open mics, never shutting up.
But in the end, I think a closed mic debate favors Kamala.
BumRushDaShow
(155,018 posts)and was skewered for doing it, literally 24/7, for 3 weeks straight, and including by some in his own party.
Dealing with the gish gallup master is impossible to do with a normal "fact check" because of the disjointed/un-related nonsense that gets strung together as a "response" (in quotes) in order to not directly answer a moderator's question.
IMHO, "debates" are completely meaningless now because they are no longer about "policy" but about "style" ( "gotchas" and "soundbites" ), and thus should be ended.
EVERYONE knows what the policy positions are thanks to the proliferation of pundit-driven "political programming" and the internet (social media and a billion ads).
PSPS
(14,623 posts)For proof, all you have to do is look at the promos starting in 2016. The ads had the same sound bed and baritone narrator as a wrestling match. Totally unserious. But, it's all about the clicks/viewers and the ad revenue they garner.
Everything got the "sports treatment" to make it "exciting", with the chyrons and split screens.
Before radio and before television, the "debate" needed to be viewed "in person" and it was written about after the fact.
Now with dozens and dozens of outlets that cover it through different media technologies, it is no longer an intellectual policy discussion but a circus sideshow, with split screens of "real-time 'reactions'", complete with a "graph" plotting a line on a X-Y axis, supposedly reflecting the thoughts of pseudo-audiences, and other nonsense.
ananda
(32,362 posts)I can't believe she caved to that fucking bully!
I don't know what to think about this except
that it could be a huge mistake.
Can anyone talk me down?
BumRushDaShow
(155,018 posts)ananda
(32,362 posts)OK
BumRushDaShow
(155,018 posts)Because we KNOW he is out of control and that is the "messaging" that has been put out there now.
This ad is literally a personification of what that type of "trolling" is designed to do (and the "mic" thing just piles on) -
Escape
(222 posts)Looks like a pretty clever "rope a dope" maneuver to me.
If Trump's mic was not monitored, he would have just babbled adolescent gibberish throughout Kamala's time to speak. It would have been the Trumpian Chaos he craves.
CTyankee
(66,395 posts)If he knows nobody can hear his snide interruptions when she speaks, she'll be able to continue to make her points, punch back. It's unnerving to anyone to be constantly interrupted when they are speaking. He'll look like he's mumbling. I think this is a big PLUS for us!