Debate Disorder

“The debate about debates is over,” Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign communications director, said in a statement. But is it?

Author

Oliver Darcy
August 15, 2024

The free-for-all nature of 2024’s presidential debate process has lended its hand to a fair share of uncertainty and confusion.

Instead of the process being methodically organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the power vacuum created by the longtime body’s demise has given way to television networks taking matters into their own hands, doing everything in their power to secure a face-off between the candidates ahead of the high-stakes November election.

At the moment, the only confirmed debate on the books between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is the September 10 contest organized by ABC News. And the only confirmed debate between J.D. Vance and Tim Walz is the October 1 showdown organized by CBS News.

The other networks, however, are pulling out all the stops to ensure that there will be more opportunities for the candidates to debate — ostensibly because the events are held as a public service, but also in part because they generate eyeballs and buzz.

Both NBC News and Fox News have made efforts to secure a Harris-Trump presidential debate. It seems quite unlikely that the latter will be successful, given the ugly right-wing rhetoric that it is home to. But there is a chance, I’m told, that NBC News — after being cut out of the process early on — could snatch the second October debate. There have been ongoing discussions and, given that the network is the only entity outside Fox News that has been left out in the cold this cycle, it certainly appears it is Cesar Conde’s to lose. Time will tell.

There are, however, real questions over whether Trump will ultimately opt against participating in the September debate on ABC News — a move that would derail the entire process and likely ensure no debates between him and Harris ever take place. As one industry insider put it to me Thursday, “The chances certainly aren’t zero that Trump no shows ABC over some manufactured reason.” In fact, the groundwork for such a move is already being laid in public, with Trump allies pointing to Harris’ friendship with Disney boss Dana Walden as supposed evidence the network is biased.

Meanwhile, on the VP front, CNN is trying to sneak in another vice presidential debate into the cycle. The network announced Thursday that it had invited both Vance and Walz to a debate in the fall, which the GOP candidate accepted.

But, shortly after, the Harris campaign poured cold water on the idea, signaling that it will not participate in more debates that it has already agreed to.

“The debate about debates is over,” Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign communications director, said in a statement. “Donald Trump’s campaign accepted our proposal for three debates — two presidential and a vice presidential debate. Assuming Donald Trump actually shows up on September 10 to debate Vice President Harris, then Governor Walz will see JD Vance on October 1 and the American people will have another opportunity to see the vice president and Donald Trump on the debate stage in October.”

Tyler went on to accuse the Trump campaign of “playing games” with the debates: “Those games end now.”

Don’t hold your breath. If anything, the one constant this campaign cycle has been the debates about the debates.

The Information Wars

Donald Trump. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)

Trump’s Presser Ploy: Donald Trump on Thursday succeeded — yet again — at effectively playing the news media. After hyping a "news conference" this week, which the press helped eventize, Trump largely used his Thursday Bedminster event to deliver a lengthy, grievance-and-lie-filled speech — which CNN and Fox News broadcasted large chunks of to their audiences. Trump used the time to lash out at the “fake news media,” fear monger about an “invasion” of immigrants, attack Kamala Harris as a “radical left socialist” who doesn’t love America, and claim the left has committed election “interference,” among other things.

Eventually, CNN cut away from the spectacle, with Wolf Blitzer saying, "It's been going on for almost a half an hour so far … and what was supposed to be a news conference so far — he hasn't answered one question, he hasn't taken any questions." Blitzer invited on fact-checker Daniel Dale to walk viewers through the mountain of lies Trump peddled. Fox News continued, unsurprisingly, carrying the remarks while MSNBC stayed clear of them. Trump eventually did take some questions, which the cable networks aired. But, even then, he largely used the opportunity to go on long, fact-free rants about various subjects. All in all, he succeeded at commanding quite a bit of attention, which I suspect was the ultimate goal.

COMBAT ZONE

  • What’s it like in the right-wing media fever swamps as we inch toward the election? Well, Charlie Kirk claimed Thursday Kamala Harris "wants to implement totalitarian communist price controls." [MMFA]

  • Meanwhile, Mark Levin smeared Tim Walz, repeatedly calling him a "pervert" and falsely accusing him of having given "civil rights to pedophiles." [MMFA]

  • And Candace Owens and Andrew Tate pushed the bizarre conspiracy Donald Trump has made "some kind of deal" with the establishment, aka the Deep State: "I just feel like somewhere along the line, something has been agreed to to prevent post-presidency or post-death for his empire and for his children." [Mediaite]

The Fourth Estate

Contract Ratified at Crooked: After a year of negotiations, as well as quite a bit of tension between staffers and management, employees at Crooked Media voted Thursday to ratify a new contract. The deal includes a minimum salary of $80,000, as well as sizable salary increases. It also includes A.I. protections and a PTO policy offering 49 guaranteed days off. THR's Caitlin Huston has details.

OFF THE WIRE

  • The WaPo is probing Taylor Lorenz over a private Instagram story she posted labeling Joe Biden a "war criminal," David Folkenflik reports. [NPR]

  • Some publishers are having trouble blocking Google's A.I. scraper, Julia Love and Davey Alba reported. [Bloomberg]

  • A leak by a reporter for The New York Times led to doxxing against Jewish professionals in Australia and the paper taking "appropriate action" against the journalist, Alexandra Bruell reported. [WSJ]

  • Rachel Maddow will host special screenings of her forthcoming documentary about Lev Parnas, "From Russia with Lev." The screenings will feature discussions with the filmmakers and one will include Parnas himself. [Deadline]

  • NewsNation launched a new digital series with Kurt Bardella, "Kurt's Country," with new episodes each Thursday. The first entry features an interview with singer Justin Moore. [YouTube]

MEDIA MOVES

  • WIRED hired Zeyi Yang as senior writer; Verity Burns as an associate editor; Skye Battles as a photo editor; and Alana Yzola as senior multiplatform producer. [TBN]

  • 🫡 After 44 years in the business, the bulk of which was served in Cleveland, Steven Litt announced he will retire from the Plain Dealer.

The Biz

The Paramount logo displayed at Paramount Studios. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Another Play for Paramount: It's the rollercoaster ride that never quite ends! Shares in Paramount Global closed Thursday up more than 7% after it was reported that former Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman Jr. could make a bid for the Shari Redstone-owned media conglomerate in the coming days. The WSJ's Lauren Thomas and Jessica Toonkel, who broke the news, reported that Bronfman has held talks to team up with Steven Paul and Fortress Investment Group about teaming up on a potential offer. If a bid is ultimately made, it would come just days ahead the "go shop period" for Paramount, which ends on August 21. And, of course, if Paramount opted to abandon the deal it struck with Skydance Media, it would owe the David Ellison-led company $400 million in break up fees. More from Thomas and Toonkel here.

THE LEDGER

  • Charles Barkley said on the "Dan Le Batard Show" that he left $100 million "on the table" to stay at TNT Sports and save jobs: "That's all I was concerned with." [Deadline]

  • Alex Sherman reported on how NBCU is "pinning Peacock’s streaming success on its $2.45 billion per year NBA deal." Per Sherman, the success Peacock had signing up subscribers after it aired the Kansas City Chiefs-Miami Dolphins NFL playoff game gave the company "confidence NBA fans would stick with Peacock even after the season concluded." [CNBC]

  • Major League Baseball and TelevisaUnivision inked a deal, giving the broadcaster rights to playoff games, as well as Game 1 of the 2024 World Series. [Variety]

  • Striking SAG-AFTRA video game performers picketed Disney, calling for A.I. protections as negotiations remain stalled. [THR]

  • Google and Netflix are teaming up! Viewers will be able to use Google Lens to scan the looks seen in "Emily in Paris" and find similar items to match the desired style. Of course, we will see a lot more of this type of tech deployed in the years ahead. [Deadline]

ROTATING DOOR

  • Disney tapped Adam Smith as chief product and technology officer, Disney Entertainment and ESPN. [Deadline]

Masters of the Universe

Mark Zuckerberg. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Lawmakers Lash out at Zuck: A bipartisan group of 19 federal lawmakers sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, expressing "deep concerns with recent reports of illicit drug advertisements" on Meta's platforms. The lawmakers cited a report in The WSJ which said federal prosecutors are probing the platform. "This is not the first time your organization has been caught facilitating drug sales on your platforms," the lawmakers wrote Zuckerberg. The lawmakers added that Meta "appears to have continued to shirk its social responsibility and defy its own community guidelines" and said that they are concerned that Meta is not up to the task and this dereliction of duty needs to be addressed." CNBC's Jonathan Vanian has more here.

► Meta told Vanian it plans to respond to the letter and said it works with law enforcement to combat illegal drug sales on its platforms.

TECH TALK

  • Oops! Eric Schmidt told Joseph De Avila he "misspoke about Google and their work hours" after his comments assailing the work-life balance at the company generated controversy. "I regret my error," Schmidt said. But does he really? [WSJ]

  • Meta removed accounts "promoting a fictitious political advocacy group ahead of the 2024 election," Naomi Nix reported. [WaPo]

  • Sam Altman keeps on feeding the rumor mill focused on OpenAI's future products. [Bloomberg]

  • This is exciting! Threads is testing a suite of new features, including analytics and scheduling posts. [The Verge]

  • Snap boasted about its evolving advertising tools. [SMT]

The Closing Number

Prosecuting for Perry: A stunning five arrests were made on Thursday in the investigation into the death of "Friends" actor Matthew Perry, who died of a drug overdose late last year. In a statement, the Department of Justice said that a "broad underground criminal network" had taken "advantage" of Perry by selling him ketamine — and even allegedly injecting him with it. "This network included a live-in assistant, various go-betweens, two medical doctors and a major source of drug supply known as ‘The Ketamine Queen,'” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said. “These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong." The NYT's Matt Stevens has more.

FINAL BOW

  • In a lengthy Q&A with Anthony Breznican, "Rust" director Joel Souza finally broke his silence about the fatal shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and left him injured. "When I tell someone it ruined me, I don’t mean in the sense that people might generally think. I don’t mean that it put my career in ruins. I mean, internally, the person I was just went away. That stopped.” [Vanity Fair]

  • The R-rated sci-fi horror "Alien: Romulus" is looking at a solid opening weekend, potentially touching $40 million. [The Wrap]

  • Some good news for Warner Bros. Discovery! "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" could potentially open as high as $80 million when it hits theaters on September 6. [THR]

  • MTV will honor Katy Perry with the VMA's Video Vanguard Award on September 11. [Variety]

  • Scooter Braun will be honored by the Anti-Defamation League. [THR]

  • Taylor Swift surprised fans at her London show by trotting out Ed Sheeran to perform duets. [Variety]

  • Nicolas Cage is set to play NFL legend John Madden in an Amazon MGM Studios drama. [Deadline]

  • MTV’s "The Challenge," the longest-running reality competition show, had its strongest ratings in three years with the debut of season 40. [Deadline]

  • Amazon's hit "The Boys" broke a new record for itself, generating 1.3 billion viewing minutes during the week of its season finale. [The Wrap]

  • Paramount+ teased "Tulsa King" season two, starring Sylvester Stallone. [YouTube]

  • Amazon will put "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" for free on Samsung TVs as it works to create hype before season two. [Variety]