In a dimly lit room deep within the headquarters of ABC News, a group of exhausted staffers gathered around a conference table strewn with papers, coffee cups, and half-eaten donuts. The air was thick with tension and confusion, the kind that only comes from trying to script the most unpredictable event of the year: the Trump-Harris debate.
“Alright, team, we’ve got a real mess on our hands,” said Lisa, the head writer, rubbing her temples. “Trump’s all over the place. First, he wants the debate on September 4th, then it’s the 10th, and now he’s hinting he might not show up at all.”
“We’ve got a confirmed date though, right?” asked Tim, the newest member of the team, who had been furiously scribbling notes.
“Sure, but Trump’s tweets are throwing everything into chaos,” Lisa replied. “One minute, he’s bashing ABC, calling us ‘FAKE NEWS,’ and the next, he’s questioning why Kamala Harris refused to debate on Fox or CNN. We’re supposed to be scripting a debate, not a soap opera!”
“And Harris?” Tim asked, glancing at his notes. “Is she ready to go?”
“Oh, she’s ready,” Lisa said with a smirk. “Her team’s been rehearsing non-stop, and they’re not phased by any of Trump’s antics. But that’s the problem—we’re trying to prepare for a debate that might not even happen!”
The team fell silent, each person lost in their thoughts about the monumental task ahead. The debate had already been delayed and rescheduled multiple times, with both Trump and Harris’s camps playing a game of high-stakes chess, each trying to outmaneuver the other.
“Do we have a backup plan?” asked Sarah, the producer, breaking the silence. “What if Trump doesn’t show? Do we cancel? Air a rerun of Dancing with the Stars?”
Lisa sighed, looking down at the mess of papers in front of her. “We can’t cancel. The network has invested too much in this. But we can’t have Harris debating herself either.”
“Maybe we could get a Trump impersonator?” Tim suggested, half-joking.
“Don’t even think about it,” Lisa shot back. “We’re already walking on thin ice with the credibility issue. We need to keep this as professional as possible, despite the circus that’s going on.”
Just then, a phone buzzed on the table. It was Lisa’s. She picked it up, her eyes widening as she read the message.
“Guys, we’ve got another problem,” she said, her voice tense. “Trump just posted on Truth Social. He’s saying he’ll only debate if we move it to a live town hall format, with a Fox News host, on September 8th.”
“Are you kidding me?” Sarah groaned. “We’re already locked in for the 10th! We can’t just change the date again!”
“It gets worse,” Lisa continued. “He’s also demanding a live studio audience that can react in real time. No filters, no editing.”
The room erupted into a flurry of frustrated groans and anxious whispers. The team had already spent weeks coordinating logistics, and now it seemed like everything was about to unravel.
“Okay, everyone, calm down,” Lisa said, trying to regain control. “Let’s think this through. If Trump doesn’t show up on the 10th, we’ll need to have Harris prepared to speak to the American people solo. We can frame it as her opportunity to lay out her vision for the country uninterrupted. If Trump insists on the town hall format on the 8th, we can’t just ignore it either.”
“But how do we prepare for something so unpredictable?” Tim asked, his voice tinged with desperation.
“We don’t,” Lisa said firmly. “We prepare for every possibility. That’s our job. Get to work, people. We’ve got a debate to write—or several, apparently.”
As the team reluctantly returned to their tasks, the room buzzed with the sense of impending chaos. The Trump-Harris debate, if it even happened, was shaping up to be one for the history books. Whether it would be remembered for the clash of ideas or the circus surrounding it, only time would tell. But for the weary staffers at ABC, one thing was certain: nothing about this debate would be easy.
This story is fiction
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