U.S. — Ahead of the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on September 10, the Harris campaign has asked if their candidate's mic could "please" be muted for the duration of the debate.
"It'd help us out a lot," said a spokesperson for Kamala Harris.
Trump campaign senior advisor Jason Miller said in a statement, "There is literally no point in debate if one person isn't going to speak. Is she going to respond via interpretive dance or something?"
A debate of any kind, not just among presidential candidates, in which one person doesn't speak at all, has never happened before. But Kamala Harris says she's proven she can break barriers. "I'm not only the first female vice president but the first person of color also. I'm a pioneer," Harris told reporters. "You know? Pioneers. They traveled across the country to find a new life for themselves like I'm going to find new life in muting my mic. [Laughter] So that I don't talk. And why should I talk? Right? I mean why? Because a picture is worth a thousand words and I'm like a picture. A real, moving, talking picture. Well, not the talking part. [Laughter] So what I'm saying is that I've already won the debate just by showing up and people need to realize that."
Trump is reportedly considering the change in terms in spite of warnings by his campaign to stay the course. "Women should be neither seen, nor heard! Am I right, fellas? I HAVE A LOT TO SAY!" he said in a post on Truth Social.
At publishing time, Donald Trump's senior advisor quit after the former president agreed that, not only should Harris' mic be muted for the whole debate, but his own should be "turned up to 11" so that he could be heard even above the moderators.