Trump campaign official accuses Harris team of seeking ‘escape hatch’ ahead of debate

The Trump and Harris campaigns are more at odds than ever before the next presidential debate. Senior Trump campaign advisor Jason Miller charged that the team of Vice President Kamala Harris was looking for a “escape hatch” in advance of the pivotal debate on September 10. With both sides rushing to arrange favorable conditions, the debate—which will air on ABC News—has emerged as a major political event.

Miller’s criticism centers on Harris’ campaign pushing for modifications to the debate’s format, specifically concerning the rules for microphone usage. Originally, both campaigns had agreed on a set of rules that included muted mics during the opponent’s speaking time, mirroring the guidelines from a previous debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. However, Harris’ team has recently sought to alter these rules, leading Miller to assert that they are trying to avoid a direct confrontation.

Miller said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that “they’re afraid.” He implied that the reason Harris’s team is nervous about the debate is that they think she will be held responsible for the administration’s actions during the previous three and a half years. Miller claims that Harris may suffer politically as a result of having to discuss topics like global concerns, border control issues, and economic downturns during the debate.

Harris’ spokesperson, Brian Fallon, responded to Miller’s claims on X (formerly Twitter), defending the campaign’s actions. Fallon explained that the campaign has not yet signed off on the draft rules provided by ABC because of disagreements over the microphone policy. He accused the Trump campaign of trying to impose conditions that favor their candidate and argued that the Harris campaign’s demands were reasonable in the context of preparing for the debate.

“The memo sent by ABC is a draft set of rules that both campaigns need to sign off on and indicate agreement. We have not done so because we think both candidates have expressed a clear desire to have hot mics,” Fallon wrote. He added that the Harris team finds the Trump campaign’s stance to be weak and is continuing discussions with ABC about the final rules.

Miller, on the other hand, rejected these claims, claiming that the Harris campaign’s unwillingness to follow the initial guidelines was a sign of their lack of faith in Harris’s ability to debate. He asserted that the campaign’s attempts to change the rules show that they realized Harris could find it difficult to compete against Trump, who he called “the greatest debater in modern political history,” in the debate.

The debate remains a critical event as the election campaign heats up, with both sides working to position their candidates for a strong performance. With the debate less than two weeks away, the finalization of the rules and the preparation of both candidates will likely continue to be a point of contention in the lead-up to the event.