Harris-Trump presidential debate: How to watch live and what time the candidates will face off tonight
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will meet for the first time as they go head-to-head tonight in a presidential debate hosted by ABC News.
The first debate between the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees comes after President Biden dropped his reelection bid in July. His decision was in reaction to members of his own party calling for him to step out after his much-criticized performance at the June 27 CNN debate against Trump.
Now that the Harris and Trump campaigns have agreed to ABC’s rules following weeks of uncertainty, here’s what you need to know:
⌚ When, where and how to watch
Tonight's debate is set to start at 9 p.m. ET and will last for 90 minutes with two commercial breaks. It will be held in Philadelphia — a deep-blue Democratic city — at the National Constitution Center. Pennsylvania is considered a key battleground state in the 2024 election cycle. President Biden managed to flip the state by a slim margin in 2020.
You can watch it across ABC News’s properties, which include ABC News Live’s online streaming, Disney+ and Hulu.
Yahoo.com will also feature real-time coverage and analysis from our editorial team.
🗣️ Who’s moderating the debate?
The debate will be moderated by “World News Tonight” anchor and managing editor David Muir, as well as "ABC News Live Prime” anchor Linsey Davis.
Muir has been with ABC since 2003. Tonight's debate isn’t Muir’s first rodeo, as he moderated debates in 2016 and 2020 for the presidential primaries. He has also done interviews on both sides of the political aisle, including a June interview with President Biden for the network’s D-Day coverage. He was the first journalist to interview Trump as president in the White House in 2017.
Davis has been with ABC since 2007 and has also moderated presidential debates, in 2019 and 2020, and has covered the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention.
📖 What are the debate rules?
The debate rules over live microphones initially became a sticking point for both campaigns. The Harris campaign wanted the microphones turned on the whole time, while the Trump campaign wanted them turned on only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak, sticking to the June 27 CNN debate rules.
The Harris campaign agreed to the muted-mics rule in a letter to ABC last Wednesday, citing the risk of Trump skipping the debate, but added that Harris was “fundamentally disadvantaged” by the rule because it would “serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the vice president.”
ABC News released the rules for tonight's debate, which are similar to those of the June debate between Biden and Trump. They include:
No live audience in the debate room, nixing any opportunity for cheers or jeers during the event.
The candidates will not give an opening statement.
Moderators will be the only ones to ask questions.
Candidates will have two minutes to answer a question, with a two-minute rebuttal, as well as another minute to follow up for clarification. Microphones will only be switched on for the candidate who is answering a question.
A coin flip determined the order of closing statements, which will be two minutes per candidate, as well as the placement of the candidates’ podiums on stage. Trump won the toss, and he chose to give the last closing statement. Harris chose to have her podium appear on the right side of the screen (stage left).
For the duration of the debate, candidates will stand behind their respective podium. They will not be able to have props or pre-written notes with them. Each candidate will be given a pad of paper, a pen and a bottle of water.
There will be two commercial breaks. During that time campaign staff cannot interact with their candidate.
📺 How did the candidates qualify for the ABC debate?
The qualifications are very similar to those of the June 27 debate hosted by CNN. As outlined by ABC, the candidates had to meet the Constitutional requirements under Article II, Section 1 to serve as president. They also must have filed a Statement of Candidacy with the Federal Election Commission.
They also had to meet ballot and polling requirements by Sept. 3 in order to get a spot on the stage. A candidate had to appear on a certain number of state ballots that would make the candidate eligible to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency. The candidate also had to reach at least 15% of votes in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters.
Only Harris and Trump met those qualifications, according to ABC. This means that independent and third-party candidates like Cornel West and Jill Stein won’t appear on the debate stage. Meanwhile, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his presidential campaign on Aug. 23 and threw his support behind Trump.
🗓 Are there other debates planned?
The Harris campaign said on Aug. 15 that both campaigns had agreed to three debates ahead of Election Day — two for Harris against Trump and one for the vice presidential nominees, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican Sen. JD Vance from Ohio.
As of the time this article was published, tonight's debate is currently the only presidential debate scheduled before the Nov. 5 election. A vice presidential debate hosted by CBS News on Oct. 1 will feature Walz and Vance going head-to-head.
Thumbnail credit: Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images, Win McNamee/Getty Images
