Rules for Tonight’s Trump vs. Harris Debate
How Harris is preparing to debate Trump
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will clash in their first debate on Tuesday at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center, a pivotal event that could shape the remainder of the presidential campaign.
The debate, scheduled to commence at 9 p.m. ET, will be hosted by ABC News. It will take place without a live audience and refrain from opening statements, as per the network’s rules released last week. Both candidates will have less than two minutes each for their closing statements.
Harris and Trump won’t have the opportunity to pose questions to one another during the debate. Only the moderators, ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis, are authorized to ask questions.
The debate is scheduled to run for 90 minutes and will include two commercial breaks. Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to questions, two minutes for rebuttals, and an additional minute for follow-ups and clarifications. In a bid for order, Harris’ campaign consented to muting microphones when a candidate isn’t speaking, as reported by CBS News.
A virtual coin toss determined the podium placement and the order of closing statements. Trump emerged victorious in the coin toss and opted to deliver the final closing statement, while Harris selected the position on the right side or stage left.
Moreover, the rules dictate that candidates must remain behind their lecterns for the entire duration of the debate. This stipulation may recollect the 2016 debate between Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, where Trump strayed from his designated spot to loiter near Clinton, an action that some interpreted as an intimidation tactic.
Neither candidate will be allowed to have prewritten notes or props on stage, nor will they receive topics or questions in advance. ABC has extended the privilege to other television networks for simulcasting the debate, with CBS News set to broadcast the event on the CBS network as well as the streaming platform CBS News 24/7.
The impending debate between Harris and Trump marks their initial face-to-face encounter and serves as a highly anticipated event in the political landscape.
