WASHINGTON — President Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off in the first presidential debate of the cycle this week, as the nation prepares to reevaluate the 2020 race.
The debate will be held Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern Time at CNN's Atlanta studios. It is the first debate between a sitting president and a former president, and the first for both in the 2024 presidential race, as both achieved presumptive nominee status for their parties without participating in a primary debate.
Plan for debate came together quickly Last month, the Biden campaign said in a letter that he was willing to debate his Republican rival on two occasions before the November election. Within hours, the two debates were scheduled for June and September.
The debate setting is different from previous contests, which were traditionally organized by the nonpartisan Presidential Debate Commission, which has overseen presidential debates since 1988. But the Biden campaign said the president would not participate in debates sponsored by the commission because of its reluctance to enforce the rules in place during the 2020 debates.
Jim Borg/Reuters/Bloomberg via Getty Images
What we know so far about the structure of the debate
CNN said Thursday's 90-minute debate, which will be moderated by anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will take place without an audience “to ensure that the candidates make the most of the time allotted to them.” It will also feature two other people. Campaign staff will not be permitted to interact with candidates during advertising breaks.
When one candidate is speaking, the other's microphone will be muted. According to sources, opening statements are also not expected and candidates will have two minutes to answer questions.
As CNN reports, Mr Biden's team won the coin toss, giving them the chance to decide who would deliver the closing arguments or where the candidates would stand on stage. The president's team chose their position on stage, selecting the lectern-bench on the right. This decision left Trump poised to conclude the night with closing arguments.
Preparing for the debate is underway
Mr Biden visited Camp David last weekend, where a source told CBS News that preparations have begun with informal sessions with past advisers and top White House and campaign aides. Mock debates will also be held, where the president's personal lawyer, Bob Bauer, is expected to play Trump.
The group helping the president prepare is led by Ron Klain, a former White House chief of staff who has worked with Mr Biden in various roles for nearly four decades. While planning the debate, he said he would once again help his old boss prepare for a televised debate with Trump. Klain has previously helped Al Gore, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton prepare for their respective debates.
The Biden campaign sees the debate as an opportunity to highlight the president's record and vision for the next four years, while comparing it with the former president. In a memo released Sunday, the Biden campaign said Americans “will see two very different visions for the future on the stage in Atlanta.”
Meanwhile, Trump's debate preparation appeared more informal. The former president has held several private meetings with aides. And Trump was on the campaign trail over the weekend, appearing at a rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, where he joked about his upcoming debate with the president.
“How should I deal with him? Should I be tough and nasty?” Trump said. “Should I be tough and nasty and just say, 'You're the worst president in history'? Or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?”
Trump's statement came out after the debate Return to Virginia for a campaign event, as his team ramps up its efforts in states where Biden won by 10 points in 2020. Mr Biden is scheduled to travel to North Carolina for a rally after the debate.
The debate is taking place just weeks before the Republican and Democratic nominating conventions, when party delegates choose their respective presidential nominees, making it a particularly early contest. But Mr Biden and Mr Trump both received enough delegates to seal their respective nominations in mid-March, setting up a repeat of the 2020 contest for the White House.
Who is eligible to debate?
To qualify for the debate, candidates had to meet criteria set by CNN, including receiving at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters and having their name on enough state ballots to reach the threshold of 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Failed to meet In order to meet the debate criteria by last week's deadline, the one-on-one debate was strengthened.
Nancy Cordes, Robert Costa and Aaron Navarro contributed to this report.