Tuesday, September 10, 2024

When is the next US presidential election debate? How to watch Trump v Harris

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Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have agreed to face off for the first time in a live TV debate ahead of the US election.

The US vice-president will go head-to-head against Trump after the former president agreed to the event following weeks of claims from the Harris camp that he was avoiding it.

It is the first time the pair have met in a debate and comes as the race for the White House has changed dramatically since Joe Biden stepped down last month.

Trump trounced Mr Biden in the first debate in June – and the fallout from his disastrous performance ultimately led to the US president pulling out of the election.

Recent polls suggest Ms Harris has a lead of as much as six points over Trump, helped in part by a boost to her campaign from the nomination of running mate Tim Walz.

Trump has now recommitted to debating Ms Harris after previously backing out.

Earlier this month he had declared he would not debate on ABC and said his agreement with the network had been “terminated”. On Thursday, he announced a change of heart — and tried to pressure Harris to agree to more September debates.

Here is everything we know about the Harris v Trump debate.

When is the Kamala Harris v Donald Trump debate?

The debate will be held on Tuesday, September 10.

Where to watch the debate

ABC is hosting the debate, which will be in the evening on primetime TV.

The event will likely air live on ABC and be streamed to the 24/7 network ABC News Live, the ABC app and the ABC website.

It is also set to be available on Hulu and via connected devices through Roku, AppleTV and Amazon Fire TV. 

Who is moderating the debate?

The hosts have not yet been confirmed but the second Biden v Trump debate, which had been scheduled for Sep 10, was due to be moderated by Linsey Davis and David Muir.

What is the format for the debate?

The format of the debate has not been announced. The format at the last presidential debate between Trump and Mr Biden was agreed on by both parties and included limits on speaking time, no live audience, and switched-off microphones to allow candidates time to talk without interruption.

‌The lack of audience was a break with tradition that was specifically requested by Mr Biden’s team.

‌Mr Trump said that the president was “supposedly afraid of crowds” and said he would prefer a live audience as “it’s just more exciting”.

‌The candidates’ microphones were deactivated while the other spoke, which was another request from the Biden team. This followed the first 2020 forum where the conversation was dogged by the candidates’ interruptions and cutting-across.

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