ABC News is set to host the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s replacement in the race, Kamala Harris, on Sept. 10. Dana Walden, a Disney executive under whose purview ABC News falls, is a close friend of Harris and was appointed to the President’s Export Council as a member in 2023. Walden and her husband even introduced Harris to her husband Emhoff, the two have been married for 10 years.

According to the New York Times, Walden first met Harris in 1994, while their husbands, Matt Walden and Doug Emhoff, have known each other since the 1980s. Harris described the Waldens as "extraordinary friends" and they have donated to Harris’ campaigns since at least 2003 when she ran for San Francisco District Attorney.

In an April 2022 fundraiser at the Waldens’ home, Harris joked, "In many ways, Dana and Matt are responsible for my marriage." The fundraiser took place in the Waldens’ Brentwood home, an area of Los Angeles in which Harris and Emhoff also own a residence. The Waldens had been the ones to set her and Emhoff up on a blind date.

Notably, Trump has sued ABC News for defamation. ABC News has stated that there is not any conflict with Walden, and that the executive, who oversees 18 businesses associated with Disney, is only involved with ABC News’ corporate matters like staffing and budgets, not editorial decisions.

In a statement, the network said, "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."

Disney Entertainment said that Walden has not hosted a Harris fundraiser since June of 2022, when ABC News came under her purview. In 2023, Walden donated $20,000 to the Biden-Harris reelection campaign. In February 2023, Biden announced that Walden had been appointed as a member of the President’s Export Council, which "serves as the principal national advisory committee on international trade."

In the announcement of the appointments, the White House described Walden as "A business leader committed to creating jobs in her home state of California and beyond" who has overseen "thousands of employees around the world whose contributions fuel one of the most extensive content libraries in the industry, on productions that generate tens of thousands of additional jobs."  

Ahead of the September 10 debate, Harris’s campaign has reportedly demanded that candidates sit down, and that they be allowed to have notes on stage, per Trump campaign spokesperson Jason Miller. The campaign has denied this.