Former US President and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is preparing to face Vice President Kamala Harris in their highly anticipated debate on ABC News on September 10. Ahead of the debate, Trump has made a specific request to the organizers.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump stated that “no boxes or artificial lifts” will be permitted during the debate, likening the use of height-enhancing items to “cheating.”
“No boxes or artificial lifts will be allowed to stand on during my upcoming debate with Comrade Kamala Harris,” Trump wrote on Saturday, September 7.
“We had this issue with former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg during his debate, where he was not allowed a ‘lift.’ It would be a form of cheating.”
He added, “And the Democrats cheat enough. ‘You are who you are,’ it was determined!”
In 2016, during his debates with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump, who is reported to be between 6 feet 3 inches and 6 feet 4 inches tall, appeared to tower over Clinton, who is 5 feet 7 inches tall.
During their second debate, the former president often positioned himself in the background while Clinton spoke, to emphasise his greater size and height compared to her.
Harris, who is 5 feet 4 inches tall, also has her own requests for the debate.
In a letter to ABC agreeing to the debate rules, her campaign expressed concerns about the network’s plan to mute candidates’ microphones when it is not their turn to speak. They argued that this format would put Vice President Harris at a disadvantage.
“Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President,” the statement read.
“We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones.”
New reports suggest that ABC might allow microphones to be on at certain times during the debate so the audience can hear candidates’ reactions. However, this would contradict the rules used in Trump’s previous debate against Biden.
