Washington — Former President Donald Trump was supposed to face off against President Biden in their second, and possibly final, debate before the election. Then came the unexpected twist in July.
Mr. Biden announced on July 21 that he was suspending his campaign as he faced growing skepticism within his own party about his ability to handle the job for another term after his rambling debate performance against Trump in June.
The debate, hosted by ABC News, is now a showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump, who both agreed to move forward with it after weeks of back-and-forth about the event’s specifics.
Here’s what to know:
What time is the debate?
The debate begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday.
Who is moderating the presidential debate?
“World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and ABC News Live “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis will moderate the debate.
Where is the presidential debate taking place?
The debate will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
Pennsylvania is one of seven battleground states that could help determine the outcome of the election. According to the latest CBS News estimate, Harris and Trump are tied in the state, which has 19 electoral votes.
The last debate between Mr. Biden and Trump also took place in a battleground state, Georgia. The two met in Atlanta at CNN’s studios.
What are the rules for the debate?
The campaigns and the network were hashing out the final rules in the days leading up to the debate. The final sticking point was over the microphones.
Harris’ campaign wanted both microphones unmuted for the entire event. Trump’s team wanted a candidate’s microphone to be muted when their opponent is speaking — a rule the Biden campaign requested during the last debate. The Harris campaign ultimately relented.
“Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President. We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign’s insistence on muted microphones,” Harris’ campaign said in a letter to ABC News.
“Notwithstanding our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format,” the letter read. “We do not want to jeopardize the debate. For this reason, we accepted the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones.”
According to the Harris campaign, it was offered assurances as to how any crosstalk may be handled. The microphones may be unmuted if there is significant crosstalk between the candidates. A candidate who constantly interrupts their opponent will be warned by the moderator and their comments may be relayed to the audience. And, if the microphones don’t pick up the exchanges, a group of reporters who will be in the room would report anything noteworthy.
ABC News said the microphones “will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.” Harris and Trump will not be allowed to ask each other questions.
Last month while campaigning in Virginia, Trump said he would “rather have it probably on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time.”
A coin flip determined where Trump and Harris will stand on stage and the order of closing statements. Trump won the coin toss and chose to give the last closing statement. Harris selected the lectern on the left of the stage, meaning viewers will see her on the right side of their screens.
Candidates will have two minutes each for their closing statements. There are no opening statements. They will have two minutes to answer moderators’ questions, two minutes for rebuttals and an extra minute for follow-ups or clarifications.
Harris and Trump will not be allowed to bring prewritten notes on stage, but will have a pen, notepad and bottle of water at their lecterns.
Campaign staff cannot interact with candidates during the commercial breaks, and there will be no live audience.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, said the campaign was “thrilled” that Harris’ team, which is mostly carryovers from Mr. Biden’s campaign, “finally accepted the already agreed upon rules of the debate that they wrote in the first place.”
What topics are on the table for the debate?
Any topic is on the table. The network has not revealed potential topics and isn’t expected to.
How to watch the presidential debate with cable
ABC has allowed other networks to simulcast the debate. It will air on a number of broadcast and cable networks, including CBS. Check your local listings.
Where to stream the presidential debate
Viewers can also watch the debate on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. It will also stream on CBS News 24/7 and CBSNews.com.
How long will the debate last?
The 90-minute debate will end at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time and have two commercial breaks.
When will the next 2024 debates take place?
As of now, there is just one more debate scheduled before the election, and it’s between the vice presidential nominees, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
CBS News is hosting the vice presidential debate, which is set for Oct. 1 in New York City. It will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell and “Face the Nation” moderator and CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan.
There could still be one more debate between Harris and Trump. Trump had proposed two other debates in September in addition to the ABC News debate. Harris’ campaign said she would agree to one more meeting sometime in October. The two have not settled on a potential rematch date.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
