President Biden and former President Donald Trump are set to square off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle on Thursday night, an unusually early showdown that pits a sitting president against his predecessor on a debate stage for the first time.
Hosted by CNN, CBS News will simulcast the debate on the CBS broadcast network and stream it live on CBS News 24/7, which can be found at the top of this page. The debate begins at 9 p.m. in Atlanta. CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will serve as moderators.
The debate will run 90 minutes and feature two commercial breaks, according to the rules laid out by CNN. In the run-up to the debate, both campaigns flipped a coin, with the winner allowed to select either the candidates’ positions on stage or the order of closing statements. The Biden campaign won the toss, and chose the right side of the stage. The Trump campaign opted to have the former president deliver the second of the two closing statements.
Each candidate’s microphone will be muted when it’s not his turn to speak. They will be given a pad of paper, a pen and a bottle of water before the debate begins, with no prewritten notes allowed. There will be no studio audience in attendance, and they won’t have contact with staffers during the commercial breaks.
The early debate schedule arose out of a dispute over the Commission on Presidential Debates, an independent, nonpartisan group that has hosted presidential debates between major candidates since the 1980s. This year, the Biden and Trump campaign’s declined to participate in debates hosted by the commission, and instead negotiated directly to schedule debates themselves. A second debate is scheduled for September.
Mr. Biden and Trump enter the debate with different objectives. The current president is looking to dispel the perception among many voters that he is too old to serve another four-year term, and will also likely tout the economic gains under his presidency while portraying his opponent as a threat to democracy. Trump, meanwhile, is sure to continue to hammer Mr. Biden over his age and capacity to serve, as well as his economic record and immigration policies.
