Fox News Anchor Presses Republican on Muted Mics at Debate: ‘Don’t We Want to Hear a Real Debate?’
Fox News’ Julie Banderas pressed the chairwoman of the California Republican Party to explain why Donald Trump favored candidates’ microphones being muted when they’re not answering questions at next month’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday, asking her why Americans shouldn’t want “a real debate.”
“ABC News has reportedly rejected a request from the Kamala Harris campaign, which I wanted to ask you about, to have microphones unmuted during the entirety of the September 10 debate,” said Banderas.
Previous reporting has indicated that Trump’s team wanted the opposing candidate’s microphone to be muted while the other candidate answers, and Harris’s team was lobbying for both microphones to be unmuted at all times. After news of the dispute broke, Trump contradicted his campaign’s position, saying he’d prefer if the microphones were unmuted as well.
“Why would they go with a decision like that? Wouldn’t you want to hear raw reaction from both candidates? I mean, they do tend to interrupt each other, that can be distracting, but it also is real. I mean, don’t we want to hear a real debate? Why does it have to be edited by muting their microphones?” Banderas asked Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson.
“I think it’s pretty rich that Vice President Harris was making these requests so late in the game when she tried to accuse President Trump of doing that very thing,” replied Patterson. “Listen, I get that she has not been out there in an unscripted manner. She has not been out there having someone challenge her. And so this is a very difficult position to be in. But she is going to- she’s actually auditioning for the number one job in the entire world. And she should be ready to do this. And I think everybody’s going to be looking forward to these debates.”
“Look, I think Donald Trump sounds like he wants the mics unmuted, but his handlers do not,” chimed in Democratic operative Tim Hogan. “And I agree they should be unmuted. I think you’d have a more honest back-and-forth. I think the chaos, though, that Donald Trump brings to that stage that is a turnoff for a bunch of people will be on full display and his campaign is saying, ‘We don’t want that.'”
Watch above via Fox News.
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