Harris and Trump accept debate rules, including allowing mics to be muted

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have accepted the rules for the presidential debate in Philadelphia, due to air on ABC next week, the network said on Wednesday – including muted mics when the other candidate is speaking.

ABC News said in a release that Harris, the Democratic nominee, and Trump, her Republican rival, “have qualified for the debate under the established criteria, and both have accepted the following debate rules”.

The Trump and Harris campaigns had been in dispute over the debate guidelines, including over whether microphones should be shut off when it was not a candidate’s turn to speak. The Harris campaign had previously pushed for live, or “hot”, microphones, arguing that it would “fully allow for substantive exchanges between the candidates”. Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, had been pressing for them to be turned off.

The statement released by ABC made it clear that candidates’ microphones would be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak – and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.

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It also said the debate would last 90 minutes and have two commercial breaks, and would be administered by two seated moderators, the ABC anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis, who would be the only people asking questions. There will be no audience in the room.

Trump, in characteristically capricious style, had threatened to pull out of the debate, claiming he would not be given a fair opportunity. Last week, he posted on his Truth Social network that ABC News was “fake news” and attacked its “so-called Panel of Trump Haters” after seeing the Republican senator Tom Cotton interviewed by Jonathan Karl on ABC’s This Week.

The debate will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, an institution dedicated to the study of the United States constitution. Pennsylvania, with 19 electoral college votes, is one of the election’s most critical swing states and Trump has visited extensively in recent weeks and months.

The other rules ABC News said had been agreed upon with the two sides include: no opening statements, and closing statements will be two minutes per candidate; candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate; props and prewritten notes are not allowed on stage; no topics or questions will be shared in advance; and candidates will not be permitted to ask questions of each other.

ABC also said Harris and Trump would be given the opportunity to give two-minute answers to questions, two-minute rebuttals, and one extra minute for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses.

Trump won the coin toss to determine podium placement and the order of closing statements, ABC said, in a flip that was held virtually on Tuesday. Trump chose to select the order of statements, and offer the last closing statement. Harris selected the right podium position on the screen, meaning Trump will be on the left.