Trump vs Harris debate on Sept 10: From muted mics to coin flip for last words, a look at rules

As the race for the White House intensifies, Former US President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have finally accepted the rules for the first presidential debate against each other. The debate is scheduled to take place on September 10 in Philadelphia and will be aired on ABC News. The American news outlet confirmed that both the Republican and Democratic Presidential nominees “have qualified for the debate under the established criteria, and both have accepted the following debate rules”.

For weeks, Trump and the Harris campaign have been butting heads over the debate rules. One of the rules which saw the most contention was 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, which would allow substantive exchanges between the candidates. However, Trump’s campaign pushed for the microphones to be muted.  Ultimately, ABC News released a statement in which they made it clear candidates’ microphones would be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak – and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.

What are the rules of the debate?

ABC News, which is hosting the debate released the following rules, which has been already agreed upon by the Harris and Trump campaigns:

• The debate will be 90 minutes long and will have two commercial breaks.

• The moderators for the debate are ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis. They will also be the only people asking questions.

• A virtual coin flip was conducted on September 3 to determine the podium placement and who will have the final words. Trump won the toss and chose to offer the closing statement at the debate. Meanwhile, Harris selected the right podium position on screen.

• No opening or closing statements can be longer than two minutes per candidate.

• The participants have to stand behind the podium, throughout the duration of the debate.

• Props and handwritten notes will not be allowed on stage.

• The candidates have been allotted, 2 minutes to answer questions posed to them, two minutes for rebuttal and one extra minute for any follow-ups, clarifications, or responses.

• Topic points or questions will not be shared in advance with the campaign or candidates.

• The participants’ microphones will remain muted if it is not their turn to speak.

• Candidates will not be permitted to ask questions of each other.

• Campaign staff are not allowed to interact with the candidates during the duration of the debate and even during breaks.

• There will be no audience in the room.

The debate will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, an institution which is dedicated to the study of the United States Constitution. Pennsylvania which comprises 19 electoral college votes is touted as one of the most critical swing states.

With inputs from agencies.