Trump raises questions about participating in ABC debate: 'Stay tuned'

Honestly, Harris shouldn't make the same mistakes Biden did and allow her own hubris to get away from her, thinking a debate with Trump would be a cakewalk.

There's a reason why Trump's former opponents have advocated for muted mics. Without them, Trump just starts with his stream of consciousness and just never stops. He doesn't let his opponents get a word in edgewise, shouts down anyone who tries to talk, and completely ignores or outright attacks the moderators themselves. He turns on the firehose of lies in real time and leaves his opponents on the defensive trying to fact-check him.

And while Harris is a seasoned prosecutor, she has always had the benefit of making her arguments in front of judges under very structured conditions where she doesn't have an opponent filling the court record with bullshit and constantly interrupting. She's used to arguing in a courtroom where a judge can and will shut that shit right down the minute an opponent tries to start up, and can bring unruly lawyers to heel under the very real hreat of contempt charges, sanctions, or worse.

There are no such tools available to Harris in a debate. Any moderators are just going to be mocked, ridiculed, and ignored. He can't be threatened into silence under threat of contempt of court. Without muted mics, there's literally nothing stopping him from turning the debate into nothing more than one of his rallies, and I have not seen anything to make me believe she can handle the Trump Hate Machine when it's in her face live and in real time. Harris has done better than I've expected her to so far, but she still seems nervous when making speeches, and I'm not sure she can simply keep up with him.

I understand her point of wanting to open up the mics and actually let Trump dig his own grave for 90 minutes, but that backfired spectacularly on Biden. It's not like he's going to debate her on policy. I will blow a skunk live on Twitter if the man spends more than two minutes actually answering a policy question at all. But even if his entire performance is 90 minutes of an incomprehensible word salad, he's still going to come out as the perceived "winner" if he's able to successfully shout her down whenever she tries to talk, because it'll make Harris look like she can't hang. And I don't believe that if it comes down to an unregulated shouting match (which it will with unmuted mics) that Harris has what it takes to go toe to toe with Trump.

I actually wish it were Walz. Walz would absolutely wipe the floor with Trump if he tried that shit. I'm not 100% confident Harris can do the same, and I'm afraid it could be a major if not fatal setback to the campaign if she can't. It's one thing wanting to let your opponent dig his own grave. But I'm afraid Harris is standing a bit too close to the edge here and may end up leaning too far over and falling in anyway.

Keep the mics muted. Keep Trump off his game when he gets frustrated because he can't speak, isn't getting his way, or is just getting owned. But anyone who's been paying attention should know that giving Trump a live, unregulated mic is a very, very bad idea.