Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are set to debate each other for the first and potentially only time in this election in a highly anticipated match-up hosted by ABC News on Tuesday night.
The debate, which will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, will start at 9 p.m. ET and run for 90 minutes. It will air on ABC. MSNBC and NBC will also air the full debate live, with primetime coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Follow MSNBC.com‘s live blog beginning at 1 p.m. ET for updates and expert analysis in real time.
Two veteran ABC News anchors, David Muir and Linsey Davis, will moderate.
Tuesday’s event will use the same rules and format as the June presidential debate between President Joe Biden and Trump. Both candidates will have two minutes to respond to questions, two minutes for rebuttals, and an additional minute for follow-ups. There won’t be a live audience at the event, and the candidates’ microphones will be muted when their allocated response time is up — a format the Harris campaign had strenuously protested against, arguing that it would be a disadvantage to the vice president by shielding Trump “from direct exchanges” with her.
The status of the Sept. 10 debate, which had been planned between the Biden and Trump campaigns, was uncertain following Biden’s withdrawal from the race in July. After Harris launched her bid for president, she practically goaded Trump into committing to the debate against her.
Historically, presidential debates have not always been regarded as high-stakes or even impactful on the outcome of the election. But the Biden-Trump debate caused a huge shake-up in the dynamics of the 2024 race and eventually led to Biden stepping aside.
More than 51.3 million people tuned into the June debate. Tuesday’s event — the only debate both campaigns have agreed to so far — may draw even more viewers. Neither candidate has ever met each other in person before. Harris is still riding high on a wave of enthusiasm among Democrats and impressive fundraising numbers, and recent polls show her closing in on Trump in several swing states. A former prosecutor, Harris can land devastating rhetorical punches against her opponents, though she also has a penchant for long-winded, evasive responses. Trump, on the other hand, is known for going off script, delivering incoherent answers, and often resorting to personal attacks.
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