Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Tuesday in their first, and possibly only, presidential debate before the November general election.
The debate will air at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday. ABC will produce the debate and use its anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis as moderators.
How can I watch the debate?
Watch post-debate live coverage on ABC15, the ABC15 streaming apps or in the player below.
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Who will participate?
Harris and Trump were the only two candidates invited. Independent candidates, such as Jill Stein, did not meet the criteria for an invitation.
Debate rules
According to ABC, moderators will mute the candidates' microphones during the debate when it is not their turn to speak. ABC also said that there will be two commercial breaks during the 90-minute debate, but campaign staff will not be allowed to interact with candidates during these intermissions.
Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water, but they are not allowed to bring any prewritten notes or props with them to the stage, organizers said.
The candidates selected certain aspects of the debate based on a coin flip: Trump chose to give his closing statement last, and Harris chose to stand at the rightmost podium on screen during the broadcast.
Each candidate will get two minutes to answer questions, two minutes to deliver rebuttals, and one minute for responses or follow-ups as granted.
Closing statements will run for two minutes per candidate and there will be no opening statements.
What's different about debates this year?
The 2024 election marks the first time leading presidential candidates are debating outside the auspices of the Commission on Presidential Debates. Before dropping out of the race, President Joe Biden's campaign criticized the debate-organizing nonprofit for its format. Trump's campaign has also echoed many of the same complaints.
Instead, President Biden and Trump formalized agreements with CNN and ABC News allowing them to organize and simulcast two presidential debates. After Biden dropped out of the race, Harris decided to keep the ABC News debate on the schedule. Trump had openly discussed pulling out of the ABC News debate but has since reaffirmed his commitment to showing up on Tuesday.
While there has been discussion over a second debate between Harris and Trump, one is not currently scheduled.
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A vice presidential debate will also be organized by CBS News between Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance.
Another big departure from debates in prior years: No audience. In the past, presidential debates had an audience, but that will not be the case on Tuesday.
State of the race
Most recent national polls show Harris up slightly in the popular vote, although a New York Times/Siena College poll released over the weekend gave Trump a slight edge.
But presidential elections are not won and lost nationally – the race will be decided in a handful of battleground states. Those polls show essentially a deadlocked race.
The election will be decided by which candidate has the best performances in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. These are the states where polling has not shown a consistent leader.
Economy top issue on voters' minds
This week's New York Times poll found that the economy ranked as the No. 1 issue determining a person's vote. Abortion and immigration were also considered top issues. Most voters said Trump would do a better job handling the economy and immigration, but voters were more likely to trust Harris when it comes to abortion, the poll found.
When asked, "Which candidate do you think would do a better job of handling the issue you think is most important?" 50% said Trump compared to 43% who said Harris.
Health care, education, student loans, gun policies and war in the Middle East had much lower interest from voters.
