First Presidential Debate 2020 ‘Trump vs Biden’: How to watch live, 5 things to expect and all you need to know
While we still have to wait for the Election Day on November 3, the much-awaited presidential debate kicks off on September 29. After weeks of Twitter debates, taking potshots at each other and a few explosive news reports, it is finally time the presidential candidates – especially Donald Trump and Joe Biden – come face to face and argue their cases. Here’s the schedule and what you need to know about it.
When and where are the debates?
September 29: The first debate is scheduled to take place at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland. It will be moderated by Fox News' Chris Wallace. According to CNN, Wallace has selected the following topics for the first debate: The Trump and Biden Records, The Supreme Court, Covid-19, The Economy, Race and Violence in our Cities and The Integrity of the Election according to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
The sessions will last about 15 minutes and each candidate will have two minutes to respond after the moderator opens each segment with a question. The rest of the time will be utilized by Wallace to enable further discussion on the topic, according to the commission.
October 7: Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence will debate at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City. It will be moderated by Susan Page of USA Today. In this debate, each segment – divided into nine segments –will be about 10 minutes each and each candidate will have two minutes to respond to the moderator's opening question, the commission said.
October 15: This will be moderated by Steve Scully of C-SPAN Networks and will take place at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, in Miami. It will take place in the form of a town hall where citizens from the South Florida area will ask questions. As CNN states, the participants will be uncommitted voters selected under the direction of Frank Newport of Gallup, the commission said. The candidates will have two minutes to answer questions and there will be an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate further discussion, according to the commission.
October 22: The last presidential debate will take place at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and will be moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC News. The format of the debate remains the same as the first one.
Where to watch?
The presidential debates will be broadcast across all the major networks and cable news programs. As reported by Wired, CBS, CSPAN, and ABC News will also have YouTube streams going on. All debates will air live from 9 pm to 10.30 pm ET
5 things you can expect from the first debate
The pandemic: As the global pandemic is still being a cause of concern, it will be interesting to see how Trump tackles questions on it. It will be interesting to see how these two candidates who have been attacking each other on this topic on social media and various interviews, convey their thoughts differently than what we have already heard.
SCOTUS: Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett would definitely be one of the hot topics of discussion. As Financial Times points out, Biden has focused his attacks on the risk that Judge Barrett poses to the Affordable Care Act, so far. We have to wait and see if Biden attacks the Republicans about the Senate refusing to vote for Obama’s SCOTUS nominee in 2016.
Protests and violence: Trump administration has always accused the Biden campaign of being anti-police and supporting violence. While the Biden campaign hit back at them for their lack of handling the ongoing protests in the country. It is just a matter of time to see how those accusations and counter-accusations play out in the bigger stage.
The economic situation: This is another important topic. As the economy is going through one of the worst phases and a scary unemployment situation as well, it would be a segment to see how they tackle the questions related to it and if they will have any solutions.
Election: Trump has not given a clear answer about whether he will accept the election results. And, he has always been a critic of the mail-in-votes. So, whether the question of acceptance of results comes up and if they do, how will Trump answer is something to look out for.