President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set to meet on Thursday, June 27, 2024, for the first of two debates planned for the 2024 General Election campaign.
The 90-minute debate is set to begin at 6 p.m. Pacific time on CNN, CNN Headline News and the streaming platform CNN Max. For non-subscribers, the debate will be available on CNN’s website.
There will be many more options for debate-watchers. That’s because CNN is offering its broadcast feed and live stream to other news organizations.
Among the outlets airing the debate in Southern California are KCBS (Channel 2), KNBC (Channel 4), the CW (Channel 5), KABC (Channel 7), KTTV/Fox (Channel 11), PBS stations KVCR (Channel 24) and KOCE/PBS SoCal (Channel 50), KMEX/Univision (Channel 34) and KVEA/Telemundo (Channel 52).
Besides CNN’s channels, cable outlets carrying the debate include Fox News, Fox Business and MSNBC.
Websites offering live streams include ABCNews, CBS News, NBCNews.com, NPR.org and PBS.org via YouTube.
The debate, to be held in CNN’s Atlanta studio, will be moderated by CNN anchors Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.
There will be no live audience and no opening statements.
When one candidate is speaking, the other candidate’s microphone will be muted.
The Biden campaign won a coin toss and chose the podium on the right side of the stage. In turn, Trump will deliver the closing statement.
Thursday’s presidential debate will be the earliest one ever scheduled before a general election. Both the Democratic and Republican national conventions are weeks away.
The first 2024 presidential debate—
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Why begin so early? The Biden campaign wanted both debates scheduled before early voting begins.
The second and final debate, hosted by ABC News, will be held Sept. 10.
Third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not qualify to participate in the debate under criteria set up by CNN. Kennedy has complained that those criteria — involving getting on enough state ballots and meeting a 15% polling threshold — were chosen to deliberately exclude him.