President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will go head-to-head on Thursday in the first presidential debate of the 2024 race. The event will be the first debate for both candidates in this election cycle, with neither participating in the primary debates.
CNN’s Atlanta studio will hold the debate in Georgia at 8 p.m. CT on Thursday, deviating from the traditional debate host — the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has hosted the debates since 1988.
The change in setting comes after the Biden campaign team announced that they would not be participating in debates sponsored by the Commission, but would agree to two debates before the November election. The next debate is scheduled for September.
Both candidates had to agree to a list of rules set by CNN in order to participate in the debate, many of which differ from past debate structures.
Primarily, in order to participate in Thursday’s debate, the candidates must have their name on enough state ballots to reach the Electoral College threshold needed to win the presidency. They also must have received 15% support in four separate national polls of registered and expected voters.
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With a total runtime of 90 minutes and two ad breaks, the debate will be hosted by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. The candidates are not permitted to interact with the campaign staff during the allotted time for ad breaks.
The debate is also set to occur without a live audience to prevent disruption. This differs from previous debate structures, in which a live studio audience was commonplace. The only other debate in modern history not featuring an audience was the Kennedy-Nixon debate in 1960.
Furthermore, the candidates will have their microphones muted while the other candidate is speaking to prevent talking over each other.
There will be no opening statements, and candidates will have two minutes to answer questions: one minute for rebuttal and one to respond to the rebuttal.
The candidates will also not be permitted to bring any pre-prepared notes on stage, but will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a water bottle.
CNN also reported that President Biden’s team won the coin toss, allowing them to choose either who will make the closing argument and where the candidates will stand on the stage. Biden’s team opted to choose his position on the stage as the right side, allowing Trump to make the closing argument.
Those who wish to watch the debate can tune in on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español and CNN Max. Fox News and ABC will also air the debate live with programming before and after.
CNN and USA Today will also stream the debate live on YouTube, and those without cable access can watch live on the CNN website.
