Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet face-to-face Tuesday night for their first — and likely only — debate of the 2024 election campaign.
The showdown in Philadelphia is seen by many as the last real chance to persuade undecided voters in what some pundits are calling the closest election in decades.
Harris, 59, was crowned the Democratic nominee last month after President Biden bowed out of the race following his disastrous performance against Trump, 78, at the June 27 debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta.
Here’s what you need to know about Tuesday night’s festivities.
Where and when is the debate?
The debate will begin at 9 p.m. ET and is scheduled to last approximately 90 minutes.
The verbal bout will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, mere steps from Independence Hall — where the Founding Fathers crafted both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Apart from the City of Brotherly Love’s historical significance, Pennsylvania and its 19 Electoral College votes are widely seen as holding the keys to the White House in 2024.
How can I watch the debate?
While ABC News is hosting the debate, a simulcast will be available on several outlets, including CBS, Fox, NBC, CNN, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, MSNBC, NewsNation, and C-Span. It can also be streamed on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
Who is moderating the debate?
The proceedings will be overseen by ABC “World News Tonight” weeknight anchor David Muir and “World News Tonight” Sunday edition anchor Linsey Davis.
Will there be another debate?
Unclear.
Right now the only other scheduled debate is between GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance and Democratic VP hopeful Tim Walz, who are set to square off on Oct. 1 in New York City.
That verbal rumble will be moderated by “CBS Evening News” host Norah O’Donnell and “Face The Nation” host Margaret Brennan.
Trump had pitched two additional debates with Harris, but the Democratic camp did not accept.
One of the debates was to be held Sept. 4 and hosted by Fox News. In lieu of going head-to-head with Harris, the 45th president sat down with Fox host Sean Hannity for a town hall in Harrisburg, Pa.
The second debate pitched by Trump would be hosted by NBC News and take place Sept. 25. However, that debate has yet to be confirmed.
What are the debate rules?
Despite the best efforts of the Harris campaign, the ABC News debate rules will be the same as those for the Trump-Biden CNN debate. Those include:
No questions asked
Only the moderates will be permitted to put forward questions during the debate. Candidates are barred from pressing their rival on a given issue.
Muted microphones
Each candidate’s microphones will be automatically muted when they are not speaking.
This was a rule that Biden’s team pushed for ahead of the first debate and Trump’s campaign insisted be kept in place this time around.
Harris’ team fought unsuccessfully to keep the mics hot and chided that Trump’s handlers didn’t trust him to act professionally for a full 90 minutes. Trump’s team countered that it was merely sticking to previously agreed terms with Biden’s people.
No openers
Moderators will introduce the candidates, but there won’t be opening statements. There will also be no notes or props allowed on stage. Trump and Harris will each get a chance to deliver a two-minute closing statement. By virtue of a coin toss, the Republican nominee will get the last word.
No studio audience
There will be no cheers, boos or other reactions to the candidates’ remarks, since there will be no crowd.
How did Trump and Harris prepare for the debate?
True to their distinct styles and personas, Trump and Harris have geared up for the debate very differently.
Harris has hunkered down in the Omni William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh to engage in heavy preparations for the big night. A former prosecutor, Harris is expected to sharpen her canned two-minute answers.
Meanwhile, Trump appears to have been comparatively low-key approach, embarking on campaign-related events, while putting faith in his instincts.
“You can go in with all the strategy you want but you have to sort of feel it out as the debate’s taking place,” Trump reflected during the Hannity town hall.
Trump has reportedly conducted more relaxed policy discussions with far-right Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and ex-Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who famously went after Harris over her stance on marijuana policy during the 2020 Democratic primary.
Who is winning the election between Trump and Harris?
Harris enjoys a 1.9 percentage point advantage over Trump in the RealClearPolitics aggregate of multi-candidate polling.
However, the Republican candidate enjoys a standing advantage in the Electoral College, which suggests that a two-to-three point disadvantage in the popular vote could still be close enough to hand the presidency to Trump.
In 2016, for example, Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by 2.1%, but swept into office with 304 electoral votes.
“This is the closest presidential campaign [in] 60+ years,” CNN election analyst Harry Enten tweeted Friday. “The race has been consistently close in a way I’ve never seen. If the polling is off by a single point in the key swing states, the winner would flip.
“The bottom line is this election is up for grabs with 2 months to go.”
What to look out for in the debate
Neither Trump nor Harris have ever interacted with one another in person.
During Trump’s debate against Biden in June, the two opted to forgo certain niceties such as a handshake, illustrating the bitterness between them. It’s unclear if Harris and Trump will follow suit Tuesday.
Leading up to the debate, Harris has largely shied away from unscripted settings since becoming the Democratic nominee.
She’s only conducted one major televised sit-down interview since becoming the nominee — which was done Aug. 29 with CNN. Tuesday night will be a test of how quick she can be on her feet when pitted against Trump, an unpredictable and unflinching rhetorical brawler.
For Trump, Tuesday is expected to be a tougher battle than the one he faced against Biden, who was a noticeably diminished figure from four years ago.
At the same time, the former president’s allies are hoping he refrains from becoming his own worst enemy — and being too belligerent onstage.
Harris’ allies have also indicated that she will seek to clarify more of her policy stances for voters. More than one-quarter (28%) of voters said they need to know more about Harris, compared to just 9% who said the same about Trump in a recent New York Times/Siena College poll.
The vice president has ostensibly moderated her stances on an array of policy issues, such as Medicare for All, a ban on fracking, a ban on plastic straws, a federal jobs guarantee, the Green New Deal, and more — though she has not gone on the record to confirm her policy evolution.
Trump will likely try to pin blame on Harris for the state of the economy and the migration crisis at the Us-Mexico border, two issues on which he has long enjoyed an advantage in polling.
