EDITORIAL: American public needs to hear Harris and Trump debate

Doing presidential debates shouldn’t be debatable.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have both agreed to a debate hosted by ABC on Sept. 10. There was drama this week about if it would even happen.

On Monday, Politico reported that the Harris camp sought to change the debate rules. According to the original terms, each candidates’ microphone was to be muted when it was their opponent’s time to talk. That allows the public to hear more from each candidate and eliminates inaudible crosstalk. But the Harris campaign wanted live microphones during the entire event. The Trump campaign objected. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump announced the sides had reached a deal that included muting the mics.

Take a moment to appreciate Ms. Harris’ utter hypocrisy. Earlier this year, Mr. Trump and President Joe Biden agreed to do two debates. The first was the disastrous June debate that led the president to drop out of the race. The second was to be on Sept. 10, hosted by ABC.

After Ms. Harris became the presumptive nominee, she demanded Mr. Trump adhere to the debate schedule he had agreed to with Mr. Biden. She even taunted him on the campaign trail.

“If you’ve got something to say, say it to my face,” Harris said in a July stump speech.

Mr. Trump would have been well within his rights to insist Ms. Harris negotiate her own debates. But he eventually agreed to participate. For Ms. Harris to seek a further rule change is preposterous.

One wonders if this was really an attempt to avoid debating altogether. Ms. Harris has still not sat down for a one-on-one interview since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee. On Thursday, she is scheduled speak with CNN’s Dana Bash, but it’s not a solo interview. Her VP pick Tim Walz will join her. The Harris campaign appears terrified of her speaking off script.

This highlights the importance of presidential debates.

The American public is selecting who will be the most powerful person in the world for the next four years. They need to hear if a candidate is capable of defending their ideas or if their ideas are even defensible. All policies have trade-offs. Attacks from the opposing candidate can help the public determine which set of policies they prefer. Or in Ms. Harris’ case, perhaps gain some insight into what her policies are. Or if she holds the radical views she espoused when running for president in 2019. Debates also show how candidates handle pressure. Another bit of useful information.

One debate isn’t enough, either. Mr. Trump has said he wants to do three debates. Ms. Harris should agree to join him.