ABC News steps into the spotlight with high stakes Trump-Harris debate

New York (CNN) — As Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump take the stage Tuesday night in Philadelphia in their first face-to-face meeting, the spotlight will also shine on the host of the debate: ABC News.

Moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis will have a much different view in front of them than when ABC News first secured the high-stakes presidential debate in May. Since then, Harris has become the Democratic nominee, shaking up not just the race for the White House but also the negotiation process ahead of the televised faceoff.

It’s a big test for the Disney-owned network in what is the only scheduled debate between Harris and Trump of the 2024 race that could serve as a make-or-break moment for either campaign. Everything ABC News does, from the moderators’ questions to the lighting will be heavily scrutinized by the candidates and the public during the 90-minute showdown.

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday night’s debate, a behind the scenes drama has played out at ABC News as network executives sought to lock down the ground rules and format for the match up.

ABC had planned to mostly mirror the rules used by CNN in its presidential debate in June between President Joe Biden and Trump, eschewing a live audience and muting the candidates’ microphones while their rival is speaking — a rule initially requested by Biden’s team prior to the CNN debate.

But Harris’ team wanted the mics hot the entire night and demanded the network change the rule. Some of Harris’ most memorable moments in previous debates and in Senate hearings have come during cross talk. Her campaign, according to people familiar with the matter, believed that muting the microphones will make Trump appear more disciplined, and expressed frustration that ABC was not willing to budge on the rule.

The issue presented a thorny dilemma for ABC. While Democrats had selected a new candidate since first agreeing to host the debate, Republicans had not. And Trump’s campaign had already accepted the debate rules as sent out by ABC News’ general counsel. The microphones remained the final sticking point, even as ABC began erecting its physical presence at the National Constitution Center.

But ABC executives remained confident both candidates would show up, and ultimately, the Harris campaign relented. In a letter to ABC accepting the rules, the Harris campaign wrote, “we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format. We do not want to jeopardize the debate.”

The network, however, seemed to leave open the possibility that it could reconsider muting the microphones under certain circumstances, according to a person familiar with the debate negotiations. ABC News offered assurances to the Harris campaign that if there is significant cross talk between Harris and Trump, the network may choose to turn both mics on so that the millions of viewers watching at home can hear the exchange, the person said. ABC’s moderators would discourage the candidates from interrupting one other and explain to viewers what is being said, according to this person.

ABC News, however, has pushed back on the notion that the microphones will be unmuted, saying in a statement last week: “Beyond the debate rules published today, which were mutually agreed upon by two campaigns on May 15th, we have made no other agreements. We look forward to moderating the presidential debate next Tuesday.”

But there will be another opportunity for the public to understand any exchanges made inaudible during the telecast. Unlike at the CNN debate, a pool of reporters who cover the candidates for major news organizations will be present in the debate studio, able to hear and report on what both sides are saying, the person added. ABC News declined to comment.

Big moment amid leadership shakeup

Presidential debates are major events for the network that puts them on. Not only are the contests significant investments, but the broadcasts attract huge ratings and are often some of the most watched events in a network’s history.

For ABC News, the debate comes at a pivotal moment. Last month, parent company Disney appointed Almin Karamehmedovic, the top producer of “World News Tonight,” as the network’s next president. His appointment comes after former president Kim Godwin abruptly stepped down in May, capping a tumultuous three-year run at the outlet after staffers said her polarizing leadership led to plummeting employee morale. For Karamehmedovic, a successful debate and big ratings could offer a big boost to staff morale.

ABC will also be closely scrutinized by Trump and his allies. In the days ahead of the debate, Trump has attacked the network, questioning its impartiality. And while Trump has sharply assailed the news media, calling journalists the “enemy of the people,” he has had some particular gripes with ABC.

“ABC is the worst network in terms of fairness,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last week. “They’re very nasty, and I think a lot of people are going to be watching to see how nasty and how unfair they are.”

Trump has also baselessly suggested that Dana Walden, the Disney Entertainment co-chair who technically has ABC News in her portfolio and has been friends with Harris for years, would somehow give vice president the questions ahead of time. The network has previously said that Walden has no editorial control over ABC News.

Trump is also suing George Stephanopoulos over the ABC News anchor’s assertion that a jury concluded Trump had “raped” E. Jean Carroll. (A Manhattan federal jury last year found that Trump sexually abused Carroll and held him liable for battery).

And last month, Trump clashed with ABC senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott as she incisively questioned the former president during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention over his past statements on race, calling Scott “nasty.”

Unlike some of their ABC News colleagues though, Trump has not gone after Muir or Davis — the latter of whom has never interviewed Trump.

Both Muir and Davis are experienced primary debate moderators, but neither has moderated a presidential debate between the Democratic and Republican candidates. Muir, the highest rated nightly news network anchor, has experience with Trump, scoring the first interview with the former president after his inauguration. Tuesday is an even bigger moment for Davis. Though she has moderated primary debates in the past and anchors ABC’s nightly streaming newscast, as well as the broadcaster’s Sunday newscast, she’s lesser known to the public.

But regardless of the moderators’ history, their performance on Tuesday will inevitably come under scrutiny, particularly over the question of whether to fact check the candidates – or not – in real time.

“I don’t think it’s a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ proposition,” ABC News political director Rick Klein told The New York Times this week. “We’re not making a commitment to fact-check everything, or fact-check nothing, in either direction. We’re there to keep a conversation going, and to facilitate a good solid debate, and that entails a lot of things in terms of asking questions, moving the conversation along, making sure that it’s civilized.”

CNN’s MJ Lee and Kristen Holmes contributed reporting.

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