Donald Trump said he had "reached an agreement" to debate Kamala Harris on September 10, two days after he threatened to pull out - although there was no confirmation from the US vice president that a deal had been struck.
Trump posted on his social media platform Truth that the rivals agreed that the ABC debate would be held under the same rules as CNN's June 27 debate, with no studio audience and each candidate's microphone turned off when the other spoke.
Calling ABC "by far the most disgusting and unfair news outlet in the business," Trump said the network had given him assurances that the debate in Philadelphia would be "fair and equitable."
But the Harris campaign, which had pushed for a face-off with microphones on, responded by accusing Trump of shifting the target and did not definitively say whether they accepted the terms.
"Both candidates have publicly expressed their willingness to debate with muted microphones during the debate to allow full opportunity for meaningful exchange between the candidates, but it appears that Donald Trump is allowing his advisers to get the better of him." Sad!” Harris' headquarters said in a statement.
Trump has previously declined to participate in the debate, which comes on the heels of Harris' meteoric rise as the Democratic nominee for the White House after President Joe Biden withdrew following a lackluster performance in the CNN debate.
The Republican accused ABC of bias Sunday, posting: "I ask: why would I debate Kamala Harris on this network?"
His staff said the debate should be held under the terms agreed to with Biden before he dropped out, although the former president himself said the microphone issue “doesn't matter to me. I'd rather have it probably on."
Harris' team said the Trump camp wanted the microphones muted to help the Republican maintain his composure when he wasn't speaking because "they don't think their candidate can act like a president for 90 minutes." ".
In his latest post, Trump added that Harris had turned down a Sept. 4 debate on Fox News, but promised to keep the date open in case "she changes her mind." | BGNES
