There was a dispute between former US President Trump and current Vice President Harris' campaign team on Monday regarding next month's US presidential debate. Harris' team sought to restore the practice of opening the microphone, while Trump threatened to withdraw from the debate completely, claiming that the previously agreed ABC television station was biased.

On Sunday night local time, Trump accused ABC television station of bias in a social media post. He wrote, 'Why should I debate Harris on that channel?' He also asked, 'Why did Harris refuse Fox, NBC, CBS, and even CNN?'

Brian Fallon, Harris' spokesperson, said on Monday that Harris' campaign team hopes the broadcasting company will keep the candidates' microphones open throughout the debate, rather than muting them during the opponent's speech, as was done in the last presidential debate. The so-called 'open microphones' can be both advantageous and disadvantageous to political candidates, as they may capture impromptu comments that were not intended for public consumption.

Fallon stated, 'The vice president is prepared to respond to Trump's constant lying and interruptions. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button.'

Jason Miller, a senior advisor to Trump's campaign team, stated in a statement that they have agreed to adopt the same rules as the CNN debate in June, which included the use of muted microphones, and added, 'We do not agree to any changes to the rules already agreed upon.'

However, Trump later told the media that he prefers to keep his microphone open. He also stated that he did not enjoy being muted last time and that he would not do much preparation this time, as he is facing a new opponent.

Trump said, 'It doesn't matter to me. I'm probably more inclined to keep the microphone open. But the previous agreement was made based on the last debate.'

Trump added, "I haven't spent a lot of time on this. I feel like my whole life has been preparing for debates, you can't cram 30 years of knowledge in one week. So, you know, I did some debate preparation, but I always do it more or less the same way."

ABC representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Harris, after Biden withdrew from the race last month, received the Democratic nomination and said she would participate in the debate scheduled for September 10th hosted by ABC News, a commitment made earlier by Biden and Trump.

Biden once pushed for an early debate to boost his campaign. However, after a poor performance in the debate on June 27, he ended his re-election bid a few weeks later.

Trump had proposed another debate hosted by Fox News on September 4th. Harris' campaign team rejected this proposal.

Republican Senator JD Vance and Democratic Minnesota Governor Walz, the two US vice presidential candidates, plan to participate in a debate on CBS News on October 1st.

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