Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he had "reached an agreement" for a debate with Kamala Harris on September 10, following his threat to withdraw just two days prior. However, there was no confirmation from the US Vice-President's office that an agreement had been made. Trump shared on his Truth Social platform that both parties had agreed to follow the same rules as the CNN debate on June 27, which included no studio audience and muted microphones for each candidate when the other is speaking.
Trump, who referred to ABC as "by far the nastiest and most unfair newscaster in the business," stated that the network had assured him the debate in Philadelphia would be "fair and equitable." The Harris campaign, which had advocated for unmuted microphones throughout the debate, accused Trump of changing the terms and was noncommittal about accepting the new conditions.
"Both candidates have publicly expressed their willingness to debate with unmuted mics for the entire duration to allow for substantive exchanges, but it seems Donald Trump is being overruled by his handlers. Sad!" the Harris campaign stated. Trump has previously expressed reluctance to participate in the debate, which follows Harris's rapid ascent as the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew following his poor performance in the CNN debate.
The Republican criticized ABC for its bias on Sunday, questioning, "Why would I debate Kamala Harris on that network?" His campaign insists that the debate should adhere to the conditions agreed upon with Biden before he withdrew, although Trump himself has mentioned that the mic issue "doesn't matter to me. I'd prefer it probably on." Harris's team believes the Trump camp wants muted microphones to help the Republican maintain discipline when not speaking, as they doubt he can act presidential for 90 minutes.
Trump also mentioned in his latest post that Harris had refused a September 4 debate on Fox News but left the date open in case she changes her mind.
