Kamala team fears debate rules like muted mics will ‘handcuff’ her, as they scramble to rewrite playbook

Vice President Kamala Harris' team is adjusting to the upcoming debate format after failing to secure rule changes they had hoped for, including removing the muted microphones which they believe will “handcuff” her against Donald Trump.

In the debates between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, the Trump team agreed to several rules set by Biden's team, such as having no audience members present and using muted microphones to prevent interruptions. For the upcoming debate, Harris’ team aimed to change these previously established rules, particularly pushing for unmuted microphones so that Harris could leverage her prosecutorial background to confront Trump directly, similar to her approach during Senate hearings, according to Politico.



Now, Harris' team is concerned that she will be "handcuffed" by the rules. “Trump’s worst moments in the debates are when he gets upset and snaps,” said an aide from Harris' 2020 campaign, per the outlet. “And they have neutered that.”

Harris' strategy seems to have been to replicate the "gotcha" moments she previously created, like during the 2020 vice-presidential debate against Mike Pence, where she responded to an interruption in a seemingly premeditated fashion by saying, "I am speaking," which could frame Pence as condescending towards a female opponent.

Some Democratic officials, however, have dismissed the concerns raised by Harris' campaign, suggesting they might be setting low expectations to help her perform well. Former Barack Obama adviser David Axelrod noted that these complaints could also serve to "get into Trump's head."

“What the [Harris] team is saying is that Trump’s campaign does not trust him to control himself,” Axelrod said. “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 concerns from the Harris campaign, Trump adviser Jason Miller expressed satisfaction with Harris' team for “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.