WATCH LIVE FREE: The Biden vs Trump Presidential Debate 2024 - RealTime Commentary
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How to watch the US presidential debates – and why they are pivotal
Joe Biden and Donald Trump are gearing up to face each other in the first televised debate of the election year
President Joe Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump are gearing up to face each other in the first televised debate of the election year
This marks the first of two agreed-upon debates in which the candidates will go head-to-head in a moderated discussion on national television.
The first debate will be held at CNN’s studios at Atlanta in the swing state of Georgia.
There will be no live audience at June’s debate, which will be moderated by CNN’s chief political correspondent Dana Bash and lead Washington anchor Jake Tapper.
The lack of audience is a break with tradition which was specifically requested by Mr Biden’s team.
Mr Trump said that Biden was “supposedly afraid of crowds” and said he would prefer a live audience as “it’s just more exciting”.
The candidates’ microphones will be deactivated when it is the other’s turn to speak, another request from the Biden team. This follows the first 2020 forum where the conversation was dogged by the candidates’ interruptions and cutting-across.
Who will be attending?
So far, the only confirmed attendees are Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
Independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr has accused the two major candidates of excluding him “because they are afraid I would win”.
CNN’s rules require participants to appear on enough state ballots to gain the minimum 270 electoral votes required to win a US presidential election, and to gain a minimum of 15% support in four separate recognised polls.
On May 11, CNN reported that Kennedy polled at 16% in a CNN/SSRS poll. Kennedy is currently on the ballot in six states and has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in eight more, but this still only brings him to 185 electoral votes.
What issues will the candidates be quizzed on?
The exact issues to be debated are unclear. But it is likely that the economy, wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East will see significant airtime, alongside the respective records in office of the two men.
