CNN will host a debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden Thursday, their first face-off in a contentious and tightly contested race for the White House.
Trump and Biden will be the only two candidates on the stage after third-party candidates, including independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., failed to meet the polling and ballot requirements to participate by the June 20 deadline set by CNN.
The debate comes as Trump has ramped up his campaign activity since the conclusion of his Manhattan hush money trial last month, hosting frequent rallies in battleground states and courting donors—and as the Biden campaign has increased its attacks against Trump, highlighting Trump’s status as a “convicted felon” with a major swing state ad campaign.
Trump heads into the debate on heels of a string of polls that show his lead slip in the wake of his conviction, though polls in the seven crucial swing states (Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada) show him with an advantage over Biden, who won every battleground state except North Carolina in 2020.
CNN anchors Dana Bash and Jake Tapper will moderate the debate.
WHAT ARE THE RULES?
There will be no studio audience during the 90-minute debate. Both candidates will stand at podiums, with Biden winning the position on the right of viewers’ screens in a coin flip. Trump won a coin flip to make the final closing statement. Candidates’ microphones will be cut when they’re not speaking and they’re prohibited from interacting with their staff during the two commercial breaks.