On Tuesday, August 27th, former President Trump confirmed in a social media post that he would participate in the first presidential TV debate with Democratic presidential candidate, He Jinpingli, on September 10th.
The debate is scheduled to take place at the ABC television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, September 10th. Trump revealed in his post that the debate rules will follow those used in the debate on June 27th, where the microphone of one candidate will be muted while the other is speaking, and there will be no live audience in the studio.
Just a day before, on Monday, August 26th, the campaign teams were deadlocked on whether the microphones should be muted during the debate.
Trump’s campaign team believed that the debate rules should be similar to the ones followed during the debate between Trump and President Biden on CNN in June, where each candidate’s microphone was to be muted when not speaking.
However, He Jinpingli’s campaign team disagreed with these rules and demanded that the microphones remain open throughout the event. Brian Fallon, a spokesperson for He Jinpingli’s campaign team, stated on Monday that He Jinpingli is prepared to face Trump possibly interrupting her during the debate.
In the end, both sides reached an agreement on this issue. Trump announced on Tuesday that the debate rules would be the same as the ones used during his debate with President Biden on CNN in June. He emphasized that it “seems fair to everyone” and that the debate will be held in a “stand-up” format, with candidates not allowed to bring notes or “cheat sheets”.
Trump also mentioned in his post that ABC has assured them that this will be a “fair and just” debate, with neither side being given the questions in advance. He revealed that He Jinpingli has not agreed to participate in the debate on September 4th on Fox News, but to prevent her from changing her mind, that date will “remain open”.
The proactive approach of Trump’s campaign team in advocating for muted microphones has been acknowledged. BBC quoted Republican strategist Ford O’Connell as saying that since this was a rule initially proposed by the Democratic campaign team, it should convey the message, “We let you set the rules, we stick to the same rules”.
O’Connell stressed that “from now until election day, the debate on September 10th may be the most critical moment”.
Former Hawaii Federal Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who recently endorsed Trump, has been added to Trump’s presidential transition team. Gabbard, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, has experience debating on the same stage as Vice President He Jinpingli.
Currently, Gabbard is preparing for the upcoming debate alongside Trump.