By EFE
Jun 27, 2024, 08:44 AM EDT
By Eduard Ribas i Admetlla
Atlanta – Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump will meet this Thursday in Atlanta (Georgia) in the first presidential debate before the November 5 elections.
This is all there is to know about this unprecedented face-to-face, the first in history between a sitting president of the United States and a former president of the country.
What rules does the debate have?
The debate, broadcast on CNN, will begin at 9:00 p.m. East Coast (01:00 GMT on Friday) and will last 90 minutes with two commercial breaks in which the candidates will not be able to speak with their advisors.
With the flip of a coin, it was decided that Biden’s podium would be placed on the right side of the screen and Trump’s on the left. The Republican will give the final statements, which means that the Democrat will finish his intervention first.
To avoid interruptions, the candidates’ microphones will be turned off when it is not their turn to speak and there will be no audience. Biden and Trump are prohibited from carrying prepared notes, but will have a notebook and pen during the face-to-face.
Why so soon?
Never before has a presidential debate been held in June. Traditionally, they were carried out during the months of September and October, closer to election day, which is the first Tuesday in November.
Biden and Trump will face each other without having yet been formally nominated as the candidates of the Democratic and Republican Parties, who will hold their national conventions in August in Chicago and in July in Milwaukee, respectively.
The truth is that both won the primaries unusually early and their campaigns argue that the debate should begin as soon as possible because there are states where early voting begins in September.
Who organizes it?
The CNN network is in charge of organizing and broadcasting the debate, which will be moderated by the same channel’s journalists Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
It is the first time in almost 40 years that the Commission on Presidential Debates, an independent body that had set dates for September 16, October 1 and October 9, was not in charge, but was boycotted by both parties due to disagreements over its operation in the 2020 debates.
Are there other candidates?
Biden and Trump will debate alone since the independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and who is running as a third way in the next elections, failed to meet the requirements demanded by CNN.
Among the network’s criteria were appearing on a sufficient number of state ballots and receiving at least 15% support in four national polls. Kennedy Jr. denounced his exclusion as “undemocratic and cowardly.”
How have Biden and Trump prepared?
The president and the former president debated twice during the 2020 campaign and have not been face to face since then. Trump refused to participate in the Republican primary debates.
Biden has been locked up in the Camp David presidential retreat for almost a week to prepare for the event, while the Republican has alternated between meetings with his team and rallies in which he has attacked his rival.
All eyes will be on the lucidity of Biden, increasingly questioned due to his age, 81, and on the explosive character of Trump, 78, known for his insults and witticisms.
Will there be more debates?
Biden and Trump have agreed to hold at least one other debate, on September 10 on ABC News, for which there are still not many details, but it is known that it will be moderated by David Muir and Linsey Davis.
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