Washington: Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign has agreed to rules for next week’s debate with her Republican rival Donald Trump, including muting microphones when it’s not the candidate’s turn to speak, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday. It comes ahead of the first face-to-face interaction between Trump and Harris, who took over as the Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race on July 21.

The source, who declined to be identified, said Harris’ campaign is still hoping for moments when ABC News, which will host the Sept. 10 debate, will be forced to turn on the microphones and let the candidates respond. The muting issue has threatened to derail the Trump-Harris presidential debate for some time.

Harris’ campaign has advocated for live microphones throughout the debate, saying previously that the practice “would fully enable meaningful exchanges between the candidates.” Interestingly, Biden himself requested muted microphones during his disastrous June 27 debate performance with Trump, a decision his aides said they now regret.

Why did Harris change his approach to live microphones?

Last week, Harris challenged Trump to debate her, keeping her microphones on throughout the event. “Donald Trump is bowing to his advisors who won’t let him debate with a live mic. If his own team doesn’t trust him, the American people certainly can’t,” Harris said in a post on X.

These so-called “hot mics” can help or hurt political candidates by catching off-hand comments that were sometimes not intended for the public. Muted microphones also prevent debaters from interrupting their opponents. Trump also preferred to keep his microphone on at all times and didn’t like it being muted during his debate with Biden.

But Harris’ advisers wrote in a letter that she would be “fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President. We suspect this is a primary reason his campaign is insisting on muted microphones.”

Harris’ campaign went on to write, “We understand that Donald Trump is a risk if he skips the debate entirely, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not agree to his preferred format.” In order to “not jeopardize the debate,” the campaign said, “We have accepted the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones.”

What is Trump and Harris’ position?

A Harris campaign official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss debate scheduling, said a candidate who repeatedly interrupts will receive a warning from the moderator, and both candidates’ microphones may be turned on if there is significant disruption so the audience can understand what is happening.

Polls have shown Trump building a lead over Biden, including in key battleground states, but Harris has since edged out the Republican presidential candidate in some national opinion polls. Harris has held mock debates for prime time with Philippe Reines, a longtime adviser to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Harris led Trump 45 percent to 41 percent in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, showing new enthusiasm among voters and shaking up the race ahead of the Nov. 5 election. About 73 percent of registered Democratic voters in the Reuters/Ipsos poll said they were more excited to vote in November after Harris entered the race.

(with information from the agency)

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