What to know about the first Harris vs. Trump debate
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The vice president and former president at events last week. Photos: Kacey Chapman/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The first showdown between Vice President Harris and former President Trump showcases a far different race than the debate that sunk President Biden's campaign if voter enthusiasm is any measure.
Why it matters: Since Biden bowed out following his shaky debate performance, Harris has erased Trump's comfortable lead in the polls, setting up a razor-thin election with less than two months to go.
State of play: The face-off Tuesday in Philadelphia's National Constitution Center won't have a live audience and also won't feature live mics despite Harris' push for the feature.
- "Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President," her campaign told ABC in a letter The Washington Post obtained.
- "We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign's insistence on muted microphones."
What they're saying: Jason Miller, a Trump campaign senior adviser, told Axios in a statement that the campaign "accepted the ABC debate under the exact same terms as the CNN debate" planned when President Biden was still in the race.
Zoom in: The 90-minute debate will be moderated by "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir and ABC News Live "Prime" anchor Linsey Davis.
- It will run at 9pm ET on ABC News with two commercial breaks and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu, per ABC News. Other networks, including Fox News, will also carry the debate live.
- A coin flip that Trump won on Tuesday earned him the privilege of choosing either podium placement or closing statement order, ABC News reported.
- The former president opted to go last, giving Harris her selection of podium positioning. Hers will be on the right side of the screen.
Zoom out: Rules dictate much of the structure of the debate from where candidates will stand (behind their podiums) to what they will be given (water, a pen and pad of paper.)
- ABC maintains no candidate will have access to topics or questions early, there won't be opening statements, and closing statements will be held to two minutes for each candidate.
- No props or earlier drafted notes are allowed, and candidates won't be able to ask each other questions.
- They will have two minutes to respond to questions, the same for rebuttals, and they will have an extra minute for any followup.
Go deeper: Harris and Trump settle on ABC News' Sept. 10 debate rules
