In a recent letter to CNN, the team for Kamala Harris explained why the Vice President would be at a disadvantage in her debate against Donald Trump.
Harris recently accepted the terms of the upcoming debate, which includes no audience and a muted microphone for both candidates when they aren't speaking. The rules would seem to favor Harris, a former Attorney General who has much more of a grasp on the issues than Donald Trump does.
The letter, sent from the campaign to CNN, read in part, "Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President."
The missive continued by noting that there is still a chance that Trump could chicken out. "Notwithstanding our concerns, 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 campaign does want to make sure that any wild reactions from Trump are covered and said that ABC News has said they would unmute the mics for significant cross talk. CNN's M.J. Lee also noted:
"Additionally, there would be pool reporters in the room during the debate who would presumably hear and report on any notable exchanges between Harris and Trump that are not picked up by mics/explained by moderators."