Trump’s Team Overruled Him on Debate Rules Out of Sheer Desperation

Donald Trump’s campaign team apparently does not want his microphone on when it isn’t his turn to speak in the next presidential debate.

Brian Fallon, a senior adviser to the Kamala Harris campaign, posted on X Thursday afternoon that Trump’s staff asked ABC News, which will be hosting the first presidential debate on September 10, to ignore Trump’s comments and keep the microphones off when it’s not his turn to speak. If ABC doesn’t enforce muted mics as a debate rule, the Trump team will reportedly pull out of the debate, Fallon said.

“We find the Trump’s team’s stance to be weak, and remain in discussions with ABC on the final rules,” Fallon’s post said.

Trump said earlier this week that he was fine with debate microphones being on , but added that the rules he agreed to were the same as his first debate in June against President Biden, where the mics were muted. Earlier reporting also noted that Trump’s team was the one to push for muted mics again this time around. If true, Trump’s staff might be trying to save the Republican presidential nominee and convicted felon from himself.

Unlike his debate with Biden, Trump will be verbally sparring with a former prosecutor almost 20 years younger than him. At the last debate, Trump appeared sharper and more alert than Biden, raising concerns about the president’s ability to win reelection and ultimately resulting in his withdrawal from the race. Biden’s campaign pushed for muted microphones at the time, probably hoping to give Biden an advantage.

Harris’s campaign doesn’t see such a need , and on Wednesday her co–campaign manager Mitch Landrieu mocked Trump, saying that his team “wants to shut him up.” Whether microphones are on or off, the September 10 debate promises to be lively and much different from the one in June, with Trump desperate for a victory against Harris as his campaign struggles to land any attacks against her or her running mate Tim Walz. But, the more he talks, the weirder he may come across on national television.