If everything goes according to schedule, we are two weeks away from the September 10 presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on ABC News. That is, however, an increasingly sizable “if.”
While the media is suggesting that Trump is considering not participating in the debate as planned, the Harris campaign has reportedly been proposing changes behind the scenes that are not sitting well with the GOP nominee’s camp.
On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Victor Davis Hanson, author of The Case For Trump, to discuss the latest in the debate drama and whether or not it will actually happen.
How It Started
Back in May the Trump and Biden campaigns stunned just about everyone they announced they had come to terms on two presidential debates. The now-infamous first debate took place on June 27 at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. And the second was scheduled to be hosted by ABC News on September 10 in Philadelphia.
Once Biden dropped out of the 2024 race and passed the torch to Harris, there were some questions around whether the September debate would take place. After weeks of back and forth – which included Trump proposing a third debate hosted by Fox News – the two campaigns agreed to keep the date (Harris’ camp also turned down the FNC invite).
But now there appears to be uncertainty once again and it stems, at least in part, to Harris trying to change the rules. “Now, this was scheduled between Trump and Biden, and the terms were agreed to between Trump and Biden, and they had apparently all the same rules as the CNN debate between Trump and Biden,” Megyn noted. “The mics were supposed to be cut, there wasn’t supposed to be a studio audience, no notes allowed, no opening or closing statements.”
Rule Change?
Apparently the vice president is no longer a fan of those parameters. “She’s gone back on the ABC debate to say, ‘I want to change the rules… I want open mics while the other person is speaking,’ and, according to Team Trump, she is also saying, ‘I want it to be a sit down at a desk situation, I want notes, and I want to be able to do opening statements.'”
For the record, Harris’ team is denying that the VP wants notes or to be seated, though she does want open mics. “The press is running out saying, ‘That’s the norm, that’s the norm,’ which it is,” Megyn said. “They are right, it was the norm until the Democrats changed the norm.”
Historically, candidates’ microphones were always left open while the other person was speaking, which allowed for interruption and debate. But the Biden camp made muted mics a condition of accepting the debates against Trump and, at least initially, Team Harris seemed to be on board.
Not anymore. “Trump’s handlers prefer the muted microphone because they don’t think their candidate can act presidential for 90 minutes on his own,” Harris spokesman Brian Fallon said. “[Harris] is ready to deal with Trump’s constant lies and interruptions in real time. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button.”
While Trump has been out on the campaign trail saying he doesn’t care whether the mics are on or off, his campaign wants the rules to stay as is. Trump spokesman Jason Miller said the Republican nominee “accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate.”
Will They or Won’t They?
The back and forth came amid Trump openly questioning – via a post on Truth Social – whether he will get a fair shake from ABC News.
“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!!!”
– @RealDonaldTrump, August 25, 2024
Megyn understood the reasoning. “Look at ABC News’ coverage of Trump and the Trump messaging last week versus how they covered the Kamala Harris message at the DNC. I watched almost all of it,” she said. “The media is now running cover saying Trump is the one who is trying to change the rules… and he is chickening out.”
Ultimately, Hanson doesn’t think the ruse will work. “Even [Axios political correspondent Alex Thompson] was on CNN saying the problem with dealing with the Harris team for interviews is they have all these conditions… and the problem is that they know that… the worst moments of her vice presidency were when she did unscripted interviews,” he explained. “They know that, and so they’re fixated on that and it can’t be hidden.”
In his view, there is no longer any ambiguity when it comes to why Harris is avoiding the press or worried about debating. “If everybody starts with the premise… that she does not want to give an interview under any conditions, then everything – the more qualifications, the more backtracking, the more projecting her reluctance onto Trump – makes sense,” he concluded. “So, it is not going to fly that suddenly Trump is getting reluctant to debate her.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Hanson by tuning in to episode 870 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.