How and where to watch the presidential debate
Vice President Harris and former President Trump will square off Tuesday night in their first, and possibly only, presidential debate as they attempt to court voters ahead of November.
It comes after a back-and-forth between the two campaigns, which argued over the onstage rules before eventually agreeing to the debate parameters.
When and what time is the debate?
The debate will kick off at 9 p.m. EDT at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, the largest city in a key battleground state. It will be hosted and moderated by ABC News.
Who is moderating the debate?
“ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis and “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir will be the moderators for the event.
The Hill’s debate coverage, streaming:
The Hill will host a simulcast of the presidential debate on its website, YouTube channel, and The Hill’s FAST channel, found on streaming channels including Roku, Vizion, Amazon Fire TV, Freevee and more. The Hill has live coverage of the presidential debate here.
Where else can you watch?
ABC News said it is carrying the debate live on its broadcast network. It will also air on its streaming platform ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.
Other broadcast networks and channels will be simulcasting the debate, including Fox News, MSNBC, NBC News, CBS News, CNN and NewsNation.
What are the debate rules?
The most contentious issue revolved around whether a candidate’s microphone would be muted while their opponent is speaking. The mics were muted during Trump’s debate with President Biden in June in the wake of a 2020 clash during which the former president repeatedly interrupted Biden and moderator Chris Wallace.
Harris’s campaign pushed for the microphones to be live for the duration of the debate, in case Trump tried to talk over her. In the end, both campaigns agreed to muting the mics.
Each candidate will have two minutes to answer a question and two minutes to respond to the other candidate. They will also have an additional minute for “follow-ups, clarifications, or responses,” the rules state.
After the moderators introduce the candidates, the debate will begin with questions; there won’t be opening statements. The candidates will have an opportunity at the end for a two-minute closing statement.
The two candidates will be given a pen, pad and a bottle of water. They cannot have prewritten notes or prompts, and no topics or specific questions will be shared in advance. Campaign staff is also not allowed to interact with them at any point.
Trump won a virtual coin toss and chose to deliver his closing statement last, allowing Harris to choose her preferred podium on the right side of the television screen.
The event will take place without an audience, diverting from many of the debates from previous election years.
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