Former US President and GOP presidential nominee, Donald Trump is gearing up to face off against Vice President Kamala Harris at their highly anticipated Sept. 10 debate on ABC News but has made one request to the organizers ahead of the debate.
In a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump shared that “no boxes or artificial lifts” will be allowed during the debate, equating the use of height-enhancing items to “cheating.”
“No boxes or artificial lifts will be allowed to stand on during my upcoming debate with Comrade Kamala Harris,” he wrote on Saturday, September 7
“We had this out previously with former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg when he was in a debate, and he was not allowed a ‘lift.’ It would be a form of cheating.”
He added, “And the Democrats cheat enough. ‘You are who you are,’ it was determined!”
In 2016, during his debates with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Trump who is reported to be somewhere between 6 feet 3 inches to 6’4 tall—seemed to loom over Clinton who is 5-foot-7-inch tall.
During their second debate, the former president had a habit of lurking in the background while Clinton spoke, to show he was much bigger and taller than Clinton.
Harris, who is 5 feet, and 4 inches tall, also had her own requests for the big day.
Upon agreeing to the rules of the debate, her campaign told ABC in a letter that she would be “disadvantaged” by the network’s plan to mute candidates’ microphones when it is not their turn to speak.
“Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President,” the written statement read.
“We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones.”
According to new reports, ABC may turn on the mics at some point during the debate so the audience can hear some of the candidates’ reactions, but this goes against the rules that were used in Trump’s debate against Biden months ago.