Vice President Kamala Harris’ team is adjusting to the rules for the upcoming debate after failing to secure changes they sought, particularly the removal of muted microphones—a feature they believe will “handcuff” her in a face-off against Donald Trump.
During the debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the Trump team agreed to rules set by Biden’s team, including having no audience and using muted microphones to limit interruptions. For the upcoming debate, Harris’ team aimed to revise these rules, particularly advocating for unmuted microphones. Their goal was to allow Harris to use her prosecutorial skills to confront Trump directly, similar to her style during Senate hearings, according to Politico.
Now, Harris’ team is worried the current rules will limit her ability to engage Trump effectively. “Trump’s worst moments in the debates are when he gets upset and snaps,” said a former aide from Harris’ 2020 campaign. “And they have neutered that.”
Harris’ strategy appears to involve recreating “gotcha” moments like those seen in the 2020 vice-presidential debate against Mike Pence. In that debate, she famously responded to an interruption by saying, “I am speaking,” portraying Pence as condescending to a female opponent.
However, some Democratic officials have downplayed the concerns from Harris’ campaign, suggesting this could be a tactic to set low expectations for her debate performance. Former Barack Obama adviser David Axelrod pointed out that these complaints might also be aimed at “getting into Trump’s head.”
“What the [Harris] team is saying is that Trump’s campaign does not trust him to control himself,” Axelrod noted. “I don’t think Trump likes to be depicted as someone being handled, so I do think there’s an element of trying to psych-out their side, too.”
Despite the concerns raised by Harris’ team, Trump adviser Jason Miller expressed satisfaction that Harris’ camp is “finally accepting the already agreed-upon rules of the debate that they wrote in the first place.”
“Americans want to hear both candidates present their competing visions to the voters, unburdened by what has been. No notes, no sitting down, no advance copies of the questions,” Miller added.