Bidenš„Trump Presidential Debate #1 Thursday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern
For the first time in U.S. history, a sitting president and a former president will debate each other as they vie to maintain and regain, respectively, the highest office in the land. The showdown, moderated by CNN, will go down at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday in Atlanta.
Debaters and television viewers are not used to an empty room, but itāll be near-empty on Thursday. No audience will be onsite. Thatās not an easy task for speakers used to feeding off of the applause and facial expressions of an audience. Furthermore, if those watching at home were expecting a lot of interrupting to call the other person a liar or take over the opponentās time, those expectations will go unfulfilled because candidatesā microphones will be muted when it is not their turn to speak.
The āhead-to-headā terminology is more than lingo here. There will only be Bidenās head against Trumpās head, as no other candidate, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., met the qualifications to participate.
Trump and Biden face off before either has even accepted the nomination for his party, so itās quite early. The Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to accept the nomination, takes place July 15-18. The Democratic National Convention will be the following month, August 19-22. Biden is the presumptive nominee, although many believe he will not ultimately be on the Democrat ticket. The two candidates have agreed to have a second debate on September 10.
How to Watch Thursdayās Debate
The debate will be live at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN and its various network channels. Viewers reportedly may also tune in to CNNās website even without a subscription. CBS and several other networks will also broadcast the debate live.