By Raul Castillo
Sep 10, 2024, 5:43 PM EDT
Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will face each other tonight in the first presidential debate for the 2024 elections. While the focus will mainly be on the contrasts between the proposals on the economy, politics or immigration, there are other details that could mark the political conversation in the coming days.
The debate, hosted by ABC News, could be an opportunity for both to start making a statement in a race that most polls say is a close one. In this sense, every symbol they achieve during the 90-minute debate, which will take place at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, could be important for the future of the election.
Beyond the substance of the discussions, the forms will also matter:
Will they greet each other at the beginning?
The handshake between the candidates has been a common occurrence in the history of presidential debates in the United States. However, that has changed in recent years, so it would be practically a novelty if it were to occur in this debate.
Trump and Biden did not shake hands at their last debate in June. They also did not do so the three previous times for the 2020 election due to concerns about Covid-19.
While Trump has been the standard-bearer for the Republican Party, he has only shaken his rival’s hand once: with Hillary Clinton during the first debate in 2016. Neither of them made the gesture before the second or third debate of that campaign.
How will they demonstrate their strengths?
If anything was clear from the Trump-Biden debate in June, it’s that Americans and the political class alike care about how strong their candidates are on stage.
Trump, though accustomed to these debates, faces a woman amid criticism from Democrats and even Republicans that he “disdains” women or does not treat them as they should. Therefore, overly aggressive attacks against Harris could increase that criticism.
Harris, on the other hand, must erase the weak image that Biden portrayed and show Democrats that she knows how to confront Trump’s attacks.
Will there be discussions with moderators?
Neither of the candidates’ campaigns has seemed particularly happy with the moderation of the debate, so it remains to be seen whether Trump or Harris will express their dissatisfaction at some point during the debate.
While former President Trump called ABC the “worst network in terms of impartiality,” Harris’ campaign has complained that moderators serve only to make one-off interventions and not to debunk candidates, in this case Trump.
“There is no verification here and it is very difficult to confront a man who is lying. In the last debate, he told 36 lies,” Macarena Casado, media director of the Harris-Walz campaign, told EFE on Tuesday in an interview at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
On this occasion, the debate organized by ACB News will be moderated by journalists David Muir and Linsey Davis.
Continue reading:
– What time does the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump start?
– Harris’ lead over Trump narrows in final pre-debate poll
– Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump presidential debate: where to watch live and in Spanish