Vice President Kamala Harris and her team are none too happy with the agreed-upon debate rule to mute a candidate's microphone while the other is speaking ahead of Tuesday's debate hosted by ABC News, Politico reported Friday.
The vice president will be "handcuffed" by this rule, Harris campaign officials told Politico. Her team, currently in Philadelphia for debate prep, had hoped that unmuted microphones would allow the former San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general to fire back at Trump, but now that seems unlikely.
However, some Democrats have privately dismissed the mantra coming out of the Harris camp as one of gamesmanship seeking to paint the Democrat nominee as an underdog muzzled by the TV network.
Echoing concerns akin to this, one Democrat strategist said, "She could get thrown off by [the muted mics], so putting [their frustration] about the mics out there, they're preparing for that possibility."
"Trump's worst moments in debates are when he gets upset and snaps," said an aide from her 2020 presidential campaign.
However, Trump has publicly said he's OK with unmuted microphones. An open-style debate has largely been attributed to Trump's success during the 2016 primary.
President Joe Biden's team agreed to the rule for muted mics earlier this year. However, Harris' team has reportedly been fighting publicly and privately for open-style debate.
Still, some strategists said they believe the muted microphones won't make a huge impact.
"He [Donald Trump] won't be able to do his shenanigans either," Democrat campaign strategist James Carville said. "So it seems kind of like a wash to me."
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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