Here’s how the Trump-Harris debate should work

Sep 4

Newt Gingrich Former House Speaker; Chairman of Gingrich 360

By Straight Arrow News

Vice President Harris and former President Trump are set to face off in their first and possibly only debate on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia. The stakes are high, as both candidates aim to convince Americans that their opponent is unfit to hold the nation’s highest office. The debate rules have been finalized, with the most contentious issue being the use of muted microphones. The Harris campaign requested that microphones remain live at all times, while Trump’s campaign favors the use of muted microphones, as was done in the Trump-Biden debate. Host network ABC has decided to keep microphones muted, though the Harris campaign is still pushing back.

Watch the video above as Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich discusses some of the debate rules and shares ideas for reform using the Lincoln-Douglas debate as a template.

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The following is an excerpt from the above video:

Well, I have a proposal. The most famous presidential debates in American history were Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Douglas was the incumbent senator, the most famous Democratic politician in the country. Everyone expected him to be the next president. He was up for reelection and was campaigning across the state of Illinois. Lincoln wanted to debate him about the big issues, the issue of freedom, the issue of slavery, the issue of enforcing and upholding the Constitution. Douglas did not want to debate Lincoln. He saw himself as, [it] was called at the time, “a little giant.” He wasn’t very big, physically, and Lincoln, of course, was very big, but he had been called the “little giant” for years. He was a great speaker, very effective, very energetic. So he didn’t want to get on the same platform as Lincoln.

So what Lincoln started doing is, whenever Douglas would speak, Lincoln would show up the next night and tear apart Douglas’s speech. Well, after three of those experiences, Douglas said, “Alright, how about if we get on the same stage?” There were seven congressional districts that had not yet been visited by either Douglas or Lincoln, and so they decided that they would go to those seven districts.

It became the most famous debate in American history. No reporters, nobody in between, [just] two candidates and a timekeeper. I think that’s what Harris and Trump should do. No reporters, no Mickey Mouse, a timekeeper. Let the two candidates ask each other questions, and let them do it on C-SPAN, which is a neutral network that doesn’t have anti-Trump reporters.

Interested in opposing perspectives? Have a look at how our other contributors view this issue from across the political spectrum:

David Pakman: Why fearful Trump has agreed to debate Kamala Harris.

Dr. Rashad Richey: Kamala Harris’ theme is that she is not Donald Trump.

You know, I have a very deep interest in the debate about presidential debates. When I ran for President in 2012 I participated in 21 debates. So I have some notion of how this all works, and I have an idea for a very bold reform. As you know, we’re currently seeing vice president Harris try to maneuver to set new rules, to change the structure that had been used when President Trump and President Biden debated, I have to say, Calista and I watched the Trump Biden debate, and we were astounded. Sort of indicated why Biden not only would be forced to drop out of the race, because he just he couldn’t function. He couldn’t he couldn’t survive 90 minutes. Well, the Harris people legitimately because, you know, during this campaign to win, not not to get a good government award, the Harris people are trying very hard to convince the Trump people that they should change the rules, that they should keep the microphones open, I assume, so she can interject comments and try to get him irritated, and they should be sitting because she wants to be allowed to bring notes in so she can have note cards to remind her what she’s supposed to say. Trump, of course, doesn’t particularly want to be on ABC because the supervisor at Disney who’s in charge of ABC News is a very close long term friend of Vice President Harris, and because the ABC reporters have been amazingly hostile and left wing and pro Harris and anti Trump. So he feels like it’s a rigged deal. Well, I have a proposal. The most famous presidential debates in American history were Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Douglas was the incumbent senator, the most famous Democratic politician in the country, everyone expected him to be the next president. He was up for reelection and was campaigning across the state of Illinois. Lincoln wanted to debate him about the big issues, the issue of freedom, the issue of slavery, the issue of enforcing and upholding the Constitution. Douglas did not want to debate Lincoln. He saw himself as was called at the time, a little giant. He wasn’t very big physically, and Lincoln, of course, was very big, but he had been called the Little Giant for years. He’s a great speaker, very effective, very energetic. So he didn’t want to get on the same platform as Lincoln. So what Lincoln started doing is, whenever Douglas would speak, Lincoln would show up the next night and tear apart Douglas’ speech. Well, after three of those experiences, Douglass said, All right, how about if we get on the same stage? There were seven congressional districts that had not yet been visited by either Douglas or Lincoln, and so they decided that they would go to those seven districts. It became the most famous debate in American history. No reporters, nobody in between two candidates and a timekeeper. I think that’s what Harris and Trump should do. No reporters, no Mickey Mouse, a timekeeper. Let the two candidates ask each other questions and let them do it on C span, which is a neutral network that doesn’t have anti Trump reporters. You.