Trump campaign official accuses Harris team of considering "escape hatch" before debate: "They're afraid"

The Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller revealed that Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign is seeking an "escape hatch" before the upcoming ABC News presidential debate on Tuesday.

Harris' team has made a notable change to the rules regarding microphones during the upcoming debate on Sept. 10, reversing a previously agreed-upon arrangement to have muted mics during the opposing candidate's speaking time.

Now, her campaign stands accused of looking for a way out.

According to Miller, the guests on "Sunday Morning Futures" were afraid.

"The reason they don't want to put Kamala Harris out there is because she will be responsible for answering for the past three and a half years of mistakes, including the economy, the border, and the world. Even though it was not her fault, she will still have to take the blame when she is on the debate stage."

Despite agreeing to the rules for the upcoming debate, the Harris campaign has not yet signed off on them. These rules were intended to reflect the guidelines established for the CNN debate between former President Trump and President Biden in June.

On Thursday, Brian Fallon, a spokesperson for Harris, wrote on an X post that the memo sent by ABC is a draft set of rules that both campaigns need to sign off on and indicate agreement. However, they have not done so because they believe both candidates have expressed a clear desire to have hot mics. Fallon also expressed confusion as to why Trump staff is overruling their principal, who should be capable of making up their own mind.

He continued, "We have been asked to agree to Trump's handlers' wishes on this matter to maintain the debate. We believe the Trump team's stance is weak, and we are still discussing the final rules with ABC."

The Harris campaign's claims were contradicted by Miller, who argued that they now understand "what they're dealing with" after preparing Harris for the confrontation.

He said that the Harris campaign is searching for a way out of the debate.

"The rules for the CNN debate were written by the Democrats. We had agreed to these rules, at least informally, with ABC. However, I believe that the Harris team started preparing for the debate and now realizes the challenges they face with Kamala Harris. Despite this, ABC remains committed to supporting us."

President Trump is known to be the greatest debater in modern political history, which makes them nervous and want a way out.

The Harris campaign was contacted by Planet Chronicle Digital for comment, but ABC did not respond.

According to Miller, the Harris campaign requested a seated debate with notes and opening statements after agreeing to the CNN rules. However, the Trump campaign refused to make any changes to the previously agreed-upon rules. If Harris fails to repeat the messaging points her handlers want her to remember, that is their issue, Miller stated.

Planet Chronicle' Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.