First US Presidential Debate: Topics, Preps & All You Need To Know

The first US Presidential Debate is a crucial one for what’s expected to be a neck-and-neck election for Donald Trump and Joe Biden according to several polls.

(Photo: The Quint)

Even as US President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden are yet to come face to face for the first Presidential Debate on 29 September, Trump on Monday gave a hint that he is not going to keep it civil.

Taking to Twitter, Trump reiterated a call that Biden should be tested for drugs before the two rivals meet for the debate on Tuesday.

“I will be strongly demanding a Drug Test of Sleepy Joe Biden prior to, or after, the Debate on Tuesday night. Naturally, I will agree to take one also,” he tweeted.

The debate itself is a crucial one for what’s expected to be a neck-and-neck election for Trump and Biden according to several polls.

However, there will be several alterations to arrangements this year in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what to expect from and what you need to know about the event:

WHAT IS THE TIME AND VENUE FOR THE DEBATE?

Trump and Biden will meet at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland AT 9:00 pm Eastern Time (6:30 IST) on 29 September.

WHAT ARE THE TOPICS FOR THE DEBATE?

According to The New York Times (NYT) the topics of the first debate are Trump and Biden’s records, the Supreme Court, the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, racial violence and the integrity of the election. The moderator has full discretion in picking the topics. Each topic will be discussed for 15 minutes.

WHO IS THE MODERATOR?

The debate will be moderated by Chris Wallace, the anchor of ‘Fox News Sunday’. Wallace had earlier moderated the presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.

WHERE TO WATCH THE DEBATE?

The debate will be live streamed across media organisations and TV news channels in the US including New York Times, CNN, BBC, Fox News, CBS, ABC, NBC and MSNBC.

WHAT COVID -19 PRECAUTIONS WILL BE TAKEN?

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Biden and Trump will neither shake hands nor do an elbow bump at the debate.

Sources told Politco news that Trump, Biden and debate moderator, Fox News host Chris Wallace, will not wear masks.

While there’s no clarity on the number of people in the audience, reports suggested that the debate will see the participation of only 75 to 80 people who will be tested for the virus prior to them attending the event.

WILL THERE BE OTHER DEBATES AND WHEN WILL THEY BE HELD?

After the first debate on 23 September, there will be three more debates as following:

Vice Presidential Debate: The vice-preidential debate will be held on 7 October at the Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and will be moderated by Susan Page, USA Today’s Washington bureau chief. There will be nine topics in this debate and each topic will get about 10 minutes to be discussed. The topics will be announced a week before the debate.

Second Presidential Debate: The second presidential debate will be held on 15 October at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami and will be moderated by Steve Scully, who is the political editor at C-SPAN. The topics will be announced a week before the debate.

Third Presidential Debate: The third presidential debate will be held on 22 October at the Belmont University in Nashville and will be moderated by Kristen Welker, NBC News White House correspondent and co-anchor of “Weekend Today.”

(With inputs from The New York Times and IANS.)