As the date for the next presidential debate comes closer, former US President Donald Trump has hinted at backing out from the ABC debate with Vice President Kamala Harris
ABC News is set to hold a debate between the two presidential candidates on September 10. This would mark Trump's second presidential debate this year. CNN conducted the previous debate with President Joe Biden.
As per the latest reports, Trump is now hinting towards backing out of the September 10 debate due to what is being called the "hot mic" issue.
Trump's team has stated that they would like for the microphones to be muted during the debate, except for when its the candidate's turn to speak, which was also the case during the CNN debate.
However, Harris' campaign is seeking for the mics to remain on throughout the debate.
"We have told ABC and other networks seeking to host a possible October debate that we believe both candidates’ mics should be live throughout the full broadcast,” stated Brian Fallon, the Harris campaign’s senior adviser for communications.
“Our understanding is that Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own. We suspect Trump’s team has not even told their boss about this dispute because it would be too embarrassing to admit they don’t think he can handle himself against Vice President Harris without the benefit of a mute button,” Fallon added further.
Apart from the "hot mic" issue, former President Trump has also expressed his problems with the broadcasting network on several occasions.
Trump's most recent post hit out against reporter Jonathan Karl, calling his "biased". Taking to Truth Social, the former president wrote - "I watched ABC FAKE NEWS this morning, both lightweight reporter Jonathan Carl’s(K?) ridiculous and biased interview of Tom Cotton (who was fantastic!), and their so-called Panel of Trump Haters, and I ask, why would I do the Debate against Kamala Harris on that network? Will panelist Donna Brazil give the questions to the Marxist Candidate like she did for Crooked Hillary Clinton? Will Kamala’s best friend, who heads up ABC, do likewise. Where is Liddle’ George Slopadopolus hanging out now? Will he be involved. They’ve got a lot of questions to answer!!! Why did Harris turn down Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN? Stay tuned!!!
The US Elections 2024 are scheduled to be held on November 5. After Joe Biden's exit, Vice President Kamala Harris was endorsed and formally announced as the Democratic candidate for the race to the White House. Harris will be facing off against former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump
