September 07, 2024 | 07.51
READING TIME: 3 minutes
The first face-to-face meeting between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will take place only on Tuesday eveningwhen the televised debate is scheduled in view of the November 4 elections, but the Democratic candidate was forced to take a first defeat. That on the microphones. Her campaign had asked that they be left on at all times during the broadcast.
Abc News has officially announced the rules after Harris gave the green light following weeks of negotiations with the two candidates’ staffs. As recently as last week, Democrats were negotiating with the network over how the microphone should be held when the other one was speaking.
The event will take place without an audience at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and will be moderated by World News Tonight anchor David Muir and Linsey Davis, of ABC News Live. It will last 90 minutes with two commercial breaks during which the protagonists of the scene will not be able to interact with their staff.
No notes, just speaking off the cuff
Neither candidate will be allowed to take notes on stage. But they will be able to take notes during the broadcast. They will only be provided with paper, pens and a bottle of water. Only the two moderators will be able to ask questions. A virtual coin toss on Tuesday determined the positions of Harris and Trump and the order of their closing statements.
Last word to Trump
The Republican candidate won and therefore decided to choose the order, reserving the final one for himself. Harris selected the podium on the right of the television screen. The closing statement will be two minutes long for each candidate.Each of the two will be given two minutes to answer each question, two minutes to reply and an additional minute for a follow up, a clarification or a response.
Even during the debate on CNN between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, who on that occasion showed the uncertainties and fatigue that would later force him to withdraw from the race for the White House and to later announce his support for Harris, the microphones were turned off at the end of their speaking time.
The request from Harris’s staff, which reached ABC, as well as other networks in the running to host a possible debate in October, was motivated by the belief that Trump would not be able to sustain the role of presidential candidate for 90 minutes. Even with commercial breaks. Trump’s campaign had denounced that Harris had asked for microphones always on but also “a seated debate, with notes and opening statements”.
The debate will begin at 9 p.m. (3 a.m. Wednesday in Italy). It will be broadcast live on Abc News Live – which will first air the special “Race for the White House” – by Disney and by Hulu. The National Constitution Center, opened in 2003, has “a mission to shape civil dialogue and debate.”
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