The campaigns of Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris and her Republican rival Donald Trump on Wednesday agreed to rules proposed by ABC for their Sept. 10 debate, including muting their microphones outside of their turn to speak.
In a statement accompanying the rules, ABC said the debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. ET (01:00 GMT on Sept. 11) and available to watch on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu, will last 90 minutes with two commercial breaks and will be moderated by journalists David Muir and Linsey Davis.
The first debate between the candidates will go ahead after overcoming the hurdle of the microphones, as Harris’ campaign had advocated that these be kept on at all times to have the right to immediately reply, which had generated criticism from the Trump campaign.
The two will face each other in the presidential elections on November 5, and the latest polls show a slight tendency towards Harris.
Same rules as the Biden debate
The Republican campaign had announced that there was an agreement for the rules to be the same as those set on June 27, the day he met with the president and former Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, whose poor performance led to his withdrawal from the race for re-election in July.
According to the rules released by ABC on Wednesday, there will be no opening speeches in the debate, only closing ones, and it will be Trump who will give the last of the two, having won a virtual coin toss on Tuesday and choosing to decide the order, while Harris chose her position on the right podium of the stage.
Candidates, who may not bring pre-written notes or props to help explain themselves or ask each other questions, will have two minutes to respond to questions from the moderators, two minutes for rebuttals and an extra minute for clarifications, answers or follow-ups on other issues.
Both candidates will have to stand behind their podiums for the entire debate and will not be allowed to interact with their campaign staff during commercial breaks, the network added, adding that it will not reveal any debate topics or questions to the candidates or their campaigns in advance.
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