Jun 23, 2024 - Politics & Policy
It's presidential debate week
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🎤 The first presidential debate of 2024 is set for Thursday, bringing former President Trump and President Biden to the same stage for the first time since their heated showdowns in 2020, Erin Doherty writes.
- It's the earliest presidential debate in modern history, coming before either candidate has officially been nominated by their parties.
- It also will be different from the 2020 debates: There won't be an audience aside from CNN moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, and the candidates' microphones will be cut when it's not their turn to speak.
- Both changes are aimed at avoiding the raucous mess that the first 2020 debate became.
👀 The intrigue: This is the first time in more than three decades that the debate isn't being organized by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
- CNN is the official host, but the network is allowing its rival networks to carry the debate with certain stipulations, such as displaying CNN's logo.
Flashback: The most-watched presidential debate in modern history was the first one between Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016, averaging 84 million viewers across 13 channels, per Politico.
