How ABC’s Presidential Debate Will Work as Harris Campaign Accepts Rules

The rules have been set for next week’s presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
ABC News on Wednesday released guidelines for the September 10 debate, which will be moderated by the network’s David Muir and Linsey Davis and feature 90 minutes of debate time, marking the 2024 candidates’ first faceoff.
The guidelines were released a few minutes after Reuters reported that Harris had accepted the network’s debate rules, according to a source familiar with the matter. The vice president’s team had pushed for the microphones to be left on throughout the debate, contrary to moderators’ plans to mute a candidate’s microphone when it isn’t their turn to speak.
Trump’s team had pushed back on Harris’ request, arguing that the candidates already agreed to have the same rules as the June 27 debate between Trump and President Joe Biden. The former president also backed out of the September 10 debate agreement after Biden stepped aside as the Democratic presidential nominee and Harris took his place. Trump recommitted to the debate after a few days of uncertainty, and Harris’ team accused the former president of being afraid to face her.
The Associated Press (AP) reported that Harris’ campaign agreed to ABC News’ debate rules by sending a letter to the network, but wrote that the vice president would be “fundamentally disadvantaged” by candidates’ microphones being muted in between questions, “which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President.”
“We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones,” the campaign added, according to the letter reviewed by AP.
Harris’ team added that despite its disagreements, “we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format.”
In efforts to not “jeopardize the debate,” the campaign said, “we accepted the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones.”
Newsweek reached out to the campaigns of Harris and Trump for additional comment Wednesday.
ABC said that a virtual coin toss was held on Tuesday to determine the candidates’ podium placement and the order of closing statements. Trump won the toss and chose to offer the final closing statement, while Harris chose to stand at the podium positioned on the right side of viewers’ screens.
There will be no live audience at the event, which will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Both candidates will stand throughout the duration of the debate and no props or pre-written notes are allowed, per ABC.
Each candidate will have two minutes to answer moderators’ questions, and will be given a two-minute rebuttal to respond to their opponents’ answers. There will be no opening statements, and closing statements will also be given a two-minute slot.
The debate will air at 9 p.m. EST September 10 on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
Update 09/04/24, 9:30 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.