What to Know as Trump, Harris Take Stage for First Presidential Debate

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are set to face off Tuesday in their first debate following a tumultuous few months on the campaign trail since the last presidential debate.
Harris and Trump will seek to win over independent and undecided voters while also building support among their voter bases. Meanwhile, polls indicate the two are neck and neck in key swing states, making the race a toss-up. They are expected to spar over such key issues as the economy, foreign policy and abortion.
The state of the race has shifted dramatically since the first debate in June, when Trump went up against President Joe Biden. During that debate, Biden stumbled through several answers and seemed to lose his train of thought, fueling concerns about his age and ability to win in November. He withdrew from the race just weeks later amid pressure from congressional Democrats.
The debate also comes nearly two months after an assassination attempt against Trump during a July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A gunman opened fire during the event, grazing Trump’s ear and killing rallygoer Corey Comperatore.
Here is an overview of what to know about the debate.
The debate will air at 9 p.m. ET and is being moderated by ABC News. It can be streamed on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu, according to the network. Viewers can stream the debate on the ABC app on a smartphone or tablet, as well as the network’s website.
The debate will be moderated by World News Tonight anchor David Muir and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis.
The debate will last 90 minutes and have two commercial breaks
ABC News released a list of rules ahead of Tuesday’s debate.
The network conducted a coin flip on September 3 to determine the podium placement and the order of closing statements. Trump, who won the coin flip, chose to have the final closing statement, while Harris chose the right podium position on the screen, according to ABC. There will be no opening statements.
The candidates are not allowed to have props or prewritten notes, but they will have a bottle of water, a pen and a pad of paper. Topics are not being shared with the campaigns in advance.
Trump and Harris will have two-minute answers to questions, two-minute rebuttals and one extra minute for follow-ups. Their microphones will be turned on only when it is the candidate’s turn to speak.
Harris and Trump will not be allowed to ask each other questions or communicate with their staff during commercial breaks. Finally, there will be no live audience.
The highly anticipated event will mark the first time Trump and Harris are coming face-to-face during the campaign.
Harris, who has released a set of policy proposals on her website, is expected to provide more clarity on her positions. In the weeks leading up to the debate, she has pivoted to the center on a number of issues, from immigration to the environment, as she seeks to quell concerns she is too liberal.
Foreign policy, the economy, immigration and abortion are among the most important issues for voters during this election, polls have found.
Meanwhile, Trump is expected to unveil new attacks on Harris. But some conservatives have warned him against attacking her identity ahead of the debate. He previously faced criticism for saying she “happened to turn Black” during a National Association of Black Journalists conference in July.
Pennsylvania may be the most important state in the election. It is viewed as a must-win for Harris, whose poll numbers surged after she became the Democratic nominee. While she improved upon Biden’s standing in the race, the election remains extremely close.
The Keystone State is roughly evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. It backed Biden by 1.2 points in 2020 and Trump by 0.7 points in 2016. It is viewed as one of the “blue wall” states in the Midwest that Democrats must win to gain the White House.
Harris’ path to victory in the state includes strong margins in Democratic strongholds of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and their suburbs, which have trended leftward in recent years. She will also seek to cut into Trump’s rural margins in the rest of the state, which have become increasingly Republican.
Polling analysis site FiveThirtyEight’s polling average shows the race as nearly tied in the state, giving Harris a 0.9-point lead (46.6 percent to 45.7 percent).
Harris held a 1.9-point lead in Michigan (46.8 percent to 44.9 percent), almost a 0.7-point lead in Nevada (46.1 percent to 45.4 percent) and a 3-point lead in Wisconsin (47.8 percent to 44.8 percent), FiveThirtyEight said. Meanwhile, Trump held a 0.3-point lead in Arizona (46.1 percent to 45.8 percent).
Georgia and North Carolina were the closest states in FiveThirtyEight’s average. Harris held a 0.4-point lead in Georgia (46.6 percent to 46.2 percent), while Trump held a 0.1-point lead in North Carolina (46.3 percent to 46.2 percent).