Ahead of the much-awaited Presidential debate on ABC News, Donald Trump has claimed that the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will be provided the questions in advance by the network.
Knewz.com has learned that the former President has based his claims on the fact that Harris is a known longtime friend of Disney's highest-ranking television executive Dana Walden.
Speaking at Sean Hannity's pre-recorded hour-long town hall on Fox News, Trump claimed that due to the reportedly familial relations between Harris and the Waldens, the network would make sure Harris had the upper hand in the September 10 debate.
"[Harris's] best friend is the head of the network," Trump told Hannity in a thinly veiled reference to Walden.
"[Harris's] husband’s best friend is married to the head of the network, and they’re going to get the questions I’ve already heard," Trump added, referring to the longtime friendship between Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and producer Matt Walden.
"They’re going to get the questions in advance," he repeated.
Walden has known Harris since 1994, while their husbands, Matt and Doug have been friends since the 1980s, according to reports.
It has also been reported that Walden is a longtime friend of the Vice president and has been contributing to her political campaigns since 2003—when Harris ran for the position of San Francisco District Attorney.
Furthermore, the Vice President had also stated at a 2022 fundraiser that she considers the Waldens responsible for her marriage to Emhoff.
Trump added that he agreed to do the debate on ABC because "They wouldn’t do any other network."
It is worth noting that the potential "conflict of interest" over the David Muir and Linsey Davis moderated debate on ABC was brought up as soon as the debate was announced, with the network trying to clear the air around the reported concerns regarding the matter.
While there used to be a layer of management between Walden and the news division – namely, the position of the ABC News President – it has been vacant since Kim Godwin resigned from the role in May 2024.
As for Walden, ABC stated in a recent statement that the Senior Executive oversees 18 Disney businesses, and is only involved in the corporate matters of the news channel.
The statement made it clear that the Senior Disney Executive has no say in the editorial side of ABC News.
"ABC News has built its longstanding reputation on journalistic integrity... All editorial decisions are in the hands of ABC News management and the seasoned journalists and producers of ABC, who hold themselves to the highest journalistic standards," the statement mentioned, according to reports.
It was further pointed out that Walden has not hosted any fundraisers for Harris since she began overseeing ABC News in June 2022, although public filings show that she did donate $20,000 to the benefit of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in 2023.
The September 10 debate will see Trump and Harris facing off for the first time as Presidential candidates, with Democrats hoping to see a change from the June 27 Presidential debate with Biden.
Ahead of the debate, Democratic party strategist James Carville laid out the recipe for getting the upper hand over Trump in an op-ed piece in the New York Times.
He wrote that, unlike the first debate, this time "Mr. Trump must be the train wreck, and it’s on Ms. Harris to lay the tracks."
"In the Sept. 10 debate, Ms. Harris must enable exactly what his campaign is scared to death of: letting Trump be Trump. She should let him talk over her. Not just let him but goad him into spouting insane conspiracy theories about the previous election," Carville wrote.
"She should use her sense of humor at key moments to get under his skin and show he’s not getting to her. And she should welcome the personal attacks as a badge of honor. And each time, no matter how many times he does it, respond with this refrain: It’s the same old tired playbook, and I’m focused on a new way forward."