By Chas Danner, staff editor at Intelligencer
The last time two U.S. presidential candidates faced off in a debate, what transpired completely upended the 2024 presidential race. Joe Biden’s disastrous performance against Donald Trump back in June prompted a panic among Democrats, and less than a month later, Biden dropped out and endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris to replace him as the Democratic nominee. Now, Harris and Trump are effectively tied in the polls, and it’s the vice-president’s turn to take on Trump at what may end up being the only debate between the two nominees before Election Day. Below are all the details.
When is the first debate between Trump and Harris? What time does it start?
The 90-minute debate will be held on Tuesday, September 10, at 9 p.m. ET. It will be hosted by ABC News at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia (without a studio audience).
Where can I watch the debate on TV?
The debate will be broadcast live on ABC and simulcast on multiple other networks, including C-Span, PBS, MSNBC, and Fox News.
How can I stream the debate online?
The debate will be streamed live on ABC.com and ABC News’ YouTube channel for people without cable or streaming-service subscriptions. It will also be streamed on ABC News Live, Disney+, and Hulu.
Who is moderating?
The debate will be moderated by ABC News anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis, and they alone will ask the questions. ABC News says the topics and questions will not be shared with the candidates before the debate.
Is Trump going to show up?
There were initially some signs Trump might back out of the debate, but at this point, there’s no reason to believe he won’t be there.
Will the mics be muted?
Yes: Per the debate rules the Biden and Trump campaigns originally agreed to, each candidate’s microphone will remain muted while the other one is speaking.
The Harris campaign made an effort to unmute the mics, but the Trump team refused.
Will there be a live studio audience?
No.
What are the other debate rules?
Per ABC News, both candidates have agreed to the following:
• There will be no opening statements, and Trump and Harris are not allowed to ask each other questions during the debate.
• Each candidate will only be allowed to have a pen, a pad of paper, and a water bottle at their identically sized podiums.
• No props or prewritten notes are allowed, and neither candidate can interact with their staff members during the two commercial breaks.
• The candidates get two minutes for each answer and rebuttal, and one minute for follow-ups, clarifications, and responses to rebuttals.
• At the end of the debate, they will each have two minutes for a closing statement. Trump will go last (he got to choose after winning a pre-debate coin toss).
How are Trump and Harris preparing for the debate?
Harris is getting ready off the campaign trail at a hotel in Pittsburgh, where she has been doing mock-debate sessions using a replica stage with an adviser playing (and reportedly even dressing up as) Trump. Part of the Harris team’s strategy has been to come up with ways to help Trump defeat himself during the event — which will be a lot harder without hot mics. But as Gabriel Debenedetti reports, Harris’s debate prep isn’t just about going on offense:
In mock-debate sessions in Pittsburgh, planning meetings in Washington, and briefing-book cram sessions between public events on the campaign trail, the vice-president and her aides have kept much of their focus on fine-tuning ways to keep presenting her as representative of a new political era for the benefit of curious voters who are still interested in learning more about her — and who may swing the race come November.
The debate, say Democrats close to Harris, is simply not the venue for just pumping up her partisans or trying to fulfill a liberal fantasy of so aggressively confronting Trump that his own supporters have second thoughts about voting for him. Instead, Harris’s team believes it needs to be about finding moments to educate and convert the voters on the margins.
Trump has done debate prep aided by Representative Matt Gaetz, who has reportedly helped him practice defending himself against tough questions and attacks. Former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard, who debated (and went after) Harris during the 2020 primaries, is helping Trump prepare as well, along with advisers Chris LaCivita, Susie Wiles, and Jason Miller, according to Politico. Per multiple reports, Trump’s allies and advisers have been warning him against launching personal attacks on Harris at the debate.
Trump is also preparing for the debate by attacking its host and moderators and accusing them of rigging the event against him — which has become one of his standard ways of lowering expectation before any debate.
Will there be a second Trump-Harris debate?
As of right now, no. Though both candidates have expressed a willingness to debate more than once, they have not yet agreed to another one — so it’s possible this could be the only Trump-Harris debate before Election Day.
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