Donald Trump said he plans to allow his opponent, Kamala Harris, to speak without interruption during their presidential debate next week, a shift for the reality-television-star-turned-politician who built a career on combative exchanges.
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“I’m going to let her talk,” Trump said on Wednesday at a taping of a town hall in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “Debates are interesting, you can go in with all the strategy you want, but you have to sort of feel it out.”
The September 10 debate hosted by ABC News is the next big test for the two candidates. That forum has already been the centre of a row over the rules for microphones, and with Trump claiming the network is biased in favour of Harris.
Trump also left a little room for him to change his plan for the event, adding on Wednesday: “Mike Tyson made the statement, ‘everyone has a plan until you’re punched in the face.’”
Trump in the past has resisted the traditional debate planning employed by presidential campaigns, involving detailed policy briefings and mock exchanges. Instead, he is preferred to have less formal preparation from his team and rely more on his own intuition. He refused to debate his Republican rivals during the 2024 primary battle.