The headquarters of the Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has adopted the rules of the debate with Republican candidate Donald Trump, including the rule on switching off the opponent’s microphones during the other candidate’s speech. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi
with reference to Reuters.
The agency added that the upcoming debate will be the first confrontation between Harris and Trump since incumbent US President Joe Biden dropped out of the race due to a poor performance at a CNN debate.
According to Reuters, which cites sources close to the situation, Harris’ campaign is still hoping that ABC News, which is organising the debate on 10 September, will allow the candidates to speak without interruption.
Recent polls have shown that Kamala Harris has strengthened her position and is now overtaking Trump in some national opinion polls.
Trump’s senior adviser Jason Miller said he was delighted that Harris and her team had adopted the rules.
Over the weekend , Harris challenged Trump to a debate, expressing her desire for both candidates’ microphones to be on for the entire event.
Reuters notes that having microphones on throughout the debate can help or hurt political candidates by picking up rash comments that are sometimes not intended for the public. At the same time, mute microphones prevent debaters from interrupting their opponents.
Reuters also added that Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and his Republican opponent J.D. Vance have agreed to hold a debate on 1 October on CBS News.
How the debate between Trump and Harris will take place
ABC News, the organiser of the televised debate between the US presidential candidates , has published the rules of the event, which have been agreed with Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, scheduled for 10 September.
The debate will take place at the National Constitutional Centre in Philadelphia. Spectators are not allowed to attend. The moderators will be hosted by David Muir and Lynsey Davis.
The total duration of the debate will be 90 minutes, with two commercial breaks.
Only the moderators will be allowed to ask questions.
There will be no opening statements, and closing statements will last two minutes per candidate.
Each candidate will be given two minutes to answer each question with a two-minute rebuttal, and an additional minute for follow-up, clarification or reply.
Candidates will stand behind the podiums during the debate and will not be allowed to have any props or pre-written notes on stage. Each candidate will receive a pen, a notebook and a bottle of water.
Candidates are not allowed to communicate with their campaigns during the debate. They are also not allowed to use notes or a prompter.