Trump Undercuts His Campaign’s Push For Muted Mics at Debate: ‘Doesn’t Matter To Me — I’d Rather Have It Probably On’
Former President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that he was “fine” with unmuted mics at his upcoming debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, but also argued that muted mics was what everyone “agreed” to do for his previous debate with President Joe Biden — along with tossing out some attacks on Harris.
That last debate infamously went so poorly for Biden that it led to the president dropping out of the race less than a month later. Democrats swiftly united around Harris, and she and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, officially accepted the party’s nomination at the Democratic National Convention last week.
The candidates’ mics were muted at the Biden-Trump debate, allowing both of them to answer questions without interference but also preventing television audiences from hearing outbursts or interruptions from Trump like he has done at other debates. Trump himself has publicly grumbled about Harris taking over the Democratic ticket and argued that any debate agreements were with the previous Biden campaign, not the Harris campaign, and are therefore not binding — along with accusations that ABC News is “biased.”
Multiple outlets have reported that it’s the Trump campaign that is continuing to push for muted mics for the upcoming ABC News Harris-Trump debate. Meanwhile, the Harris campaign has fired back, taunting Trump by accusing his “handlers” of wanting to keep his mic muted “because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own.”
Trump was asked about the debate on Monday, in a video clip that was aired on CNN.
REPORTER: Would you want the microphone muted in the debate whenever you’re not speaking?
TRUMP: We agreed to the same rules. I don’t know — doesn’t matter to me. I’d rather have it probably on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time. In that case, it was muted. Uh, I didn’t like it the last time, but it worked out fine. They’re trying to change it. The truth is, they’re trying to get out of it because she doesn’t want to debate. She’s not a good debater. She’s not a smart person. She doesn’t want to debate.
REPORTER: President Trump, how are you specifically preparing for the debate, versus Harris –”
TRUMP: I’m not, really. I’m not — I’m not spending a lot of time on it. I think my whole life I’ve been preparing for a debate.
Watch the clip above via CNN.
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