By Peter Doocy, Patrick Ward, Paul Steinhauser | Fox News
A source said the Biden campaign has declined the ear
check.
CLEVELAND -- President
Trump is asking for an additional ground rule ahead of Tuesday
night’s first
presidential debate between himself and Democratic
presidential nominee Joe Biden. But the Biden campaign is rejecting
it.
Fox News has learned that the president’s
re-election campaign wants the Biden campaign to allow a third party to inspect
the ears of each debater for electronic devices or transmitters. The
president has consented to this kind of inspection, but a source said the Biden
campaign has declined the ear check.
The Trump campaign, in the hours ahead of the debate,
claimed Biden's campaign had agreed to such an inspection before reversing
themselves.
“Joe Biden’s handlers several days ago agreed to a
pre-debate inspection for electronic earpieces but today abruptly reversed
themselves and declined. Biden’s handlers have asked for multiple breaks during
the debate, which President Trump doesn’t need, so we have rejected that
request," said Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh. "On
top of the refusal to take a drug test, it seems pretty obvious that the Biden
team is looking for any safety net they can find in the hours leading up to the
debate. With his 47 years as a failed Washington politician, how much help does
Biden want?
Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, called
the Trump campaign’s request “absurd” in a call with reporters. She also denied
the claim that the campaign had asked for breaks.
"His staff seems concerned that he may not do well
tonight and they’re already laying the groundwork for how they’re going to lie
about why," Bedingfield said. "It is completely absurd. Of
course, he’s not wearing an earpiece and we never asked for breaks."
Over the last several weeks, sources told Fox News, the former vice
president's campaign has also requested two breaks -- one every 30 minutes
-- to break up the 90-minute commercial-free program. But that request has
been denied by their Trump counterparts, the sources said.
A Trump campaign source told Fox News that "our guy
doesn't need breaks. He gives 90-minute speeches all the time."
And the source says that the negotiations are still
on-going for Tuesday's night's debate -- as well as the remaining two showdowns
between Biden and Trump.
Fox News is reaching out to the Commission on
Presidential debates – the bipartisan organization that for more than three
decades has organized and produced the debates – for a response to the requests
from the two campaigns.
The commission has traditionally pushed back against
requests from the networks for commercial breaks.
The debate – the first of three between Biden and Trump
-- kicks off at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday and is being hosted by Case Western Reserve
University and the Cleveland Clinic, in Cleveland,
Ohio. The showdown’s being moderated by "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace.
Fox News’ John Roberts contributed to
this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-third-party-inspect-ears-electronic-devices