President Biden and former President Donald Trump will attend the first presidential debate in the 2024 election Friday at 9 pm ET.
The debate, hosted by CNN, will be the first time either candidate has been on the debate stage since 2020. The debate will also air on other networks, including streaming CBS and CBS News 24/7.
Trump will get the last word on the night, while Mr. Biden will have to choose whether he wants to be on the right or left side of the podium. His microphone will be muted, except when it’s his turn to speak.
Here are the details:
Who did – and didn’t – attend the first presidential debate?
The debate will feature only two of the party’s presumptive nominees – President Biden and former President Donald Trump.
All non-major party candidates, incl Robert F. Kennedy Jr., failed to qualify for the debate stage by the network’s June 20 deadline. Kennedy failed to meet the ballot access and polling requirements set by CNN.
Candidates must receive at least 15% support in four approved national opinion polls and be eligible to vote country in order to win 270 votes in the Electoral College – the threshold to win the presidency.
The Biden and Trump campaigns have a shared interest in keeping Kennedy off the debate stage as independent candidates seek to draw support from voters and possibly influence the battleground states. Kennedy campaign said Tuesday will host its own “debate” at the same time as the Biden-Trump showdown that will be broadcast online.
Who is moderating the first presidential debate of 2024?
CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are moderating. The network said moderators “will use all tools at their disposal to enforce time and ensure civilized discussion.”
Where was the first presidential debate held?
Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump will debate in CNN’s Atlanta studios.
The network said there would be no studio audience “to ensure the candidates can maximize the time allotted to them in the debate.”
What are the rules for debate?
Thursday’s debate was the first not conducted by the Commission on Presidential Debates, so there were some modifications from the normal debate rules. For example, the debate is set for 90 minutes, but there will be two commercial breaks, first. Campaign staff are not allowed to interact with candidates during this time. There will be no audience in the studio.
According to CNN, both candidates have agreed to appear on uniform lecterns, and the position of the lectern was determined by a coin toss. Mr. Biden won the coin toss and will appear on the right side of the TV viewer’s screen.
In another break from previous debates, there will be no opening statements and each candidate will make a closing statement. The candidate who won the coin toss was allowed to choose the lectern position or closing statement order, and the Biden campaign chose the lectern position.
The Trump campaign then chose for the former president to deliver the final closing statement, which means that Mr. Biden will be the first at the conclusion of the debate.
The microphone will be muted during the debate unless the candidate is to speak. This rule is a departure from the 2020 debate, when Trump often interrupted Mr. Biden, leading to one of the debate’s most memorable moments, when Mr. Biden said“You just shut up, right?”
As with previous debates, candidates will be allowed to have pens, paper and water bottles.
What topics are on the table for the first presidential debate?
CNN has not indicated what topics will be covered.
Some of the possible topics are: border security and immigration, which are both topics Trump has hammered the president on; abortion rights is an issue that has galvanized Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe. v. Wade; Trump’s criminal conviction in the case related to “hush money” payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election; confidence of the president’s son, Hunter Biden, for buying and possessing a gun while he was addicted to crack cocaine; economy; and concerns of voters about the age and health of both people.
How to watch presidential debates with cable
The debate will air on CNN, but the network also allows other broadcast and cable news networks to simulcast. CBS will be one of the simulcasting networks.
Where to stream the presidential debate
Those without a cable subscription can watch online at CNN.com or stream it on CBS News 24/7 and CBSNews.com, where it will be broadcast.
How long will the debate last?
The show will last 90 minutes and include two commercial breaks.
Campaign staff are not allowed to interact with the candidates during breaks, the network said, preventing presidents and former presidents from receiving feedback from aides during the half-hour debate.
When will the next 2024 debate take place?
Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump have agreed to debate again, which will be hosted by ABC News on September 10.
Plan for two events come together quickly after the Biden campaign last month proposed two debates to be hosted by news organizations. The Trump campaign accepted, but pushed back more than the two events.
He passed the long tradition of three meetings organized by the Nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has overseen presidential debates since 1988. The commission’s three debates are scheduled to take place in September and October at universities in Texas, Virginia and Utah.
The vice presidential debate could take place on July 23 or August 13.
Biden campaign Accepted CBS News’ invitation to participate in the debate said the date coincided with Vice President Kamala Harris’ schedule. Trump has not yet named his running mate, but the invitation also extends to the campaign.
