The confrontation in Atlanta on Thursday night between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is poised to be one of the most significant presidential debates in US history. This unprecedented event marks the first time a sitting president and a former president will face off before millions of viewers, occurring unusually early in the election cycle, even before the party conventions. Hosted by CNN, this showdown is a crucial moment in a closely contested race, offering Biden a vital opportunity to invigorate his reelection campaign amidst mounting challenges. With many Americans struggling with high prices affecting their ability to afford basic necessities like food, housing, and cars, the debate also comes at a time of intense national discourse on abortion rights, following decisions by a conservative Supreme Court majority appointed by Trump. Deep divisions over immigration and foreign policy issues in a rapidly changing global landscape further underscore the significance of this debate. The encounter embodies an election season marked by widespread dissatisfaction among voters, who are faced with a choice between two elderly candidates that many feel are more polarizing than unifying.
Quick Read
- Biden-Trump Debate: Marks a series of firsts, with both sides recognizing the high stakes.
- Arrival in Atlanta: Biden greeted supporters, Trump landed later in the afternoon.
- Historical Context: First debate since their last encounter in 2020; Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration after the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
- Debate Format: Earliest general election debate, hosted by CNN without an audience, microphones muted when not speaking, and two commercial breaks.
- No Third-Party Candidates: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not qualify under CNN’s rules.
- Preparation Styles: Biden had structured prep at Camp David; Trump had informal prep in Florida.
- Key Issues: Abortion rights, immigration, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, economic policies, and climate change.
- Political Context: Debate follows Biden’s actions on asylum claims and Trump’s legal challenges related to Jan. 6 insurrection and a New York conviction.
- Strategic Importance: Both candidates aim to leverage the debate to influence voters amid early voting trends and significant political stakes.
- CNN counts down: During commercials, CNN kept a countdown clock on screen as Thursday’s presidential debate neared, showing a near-empty studio view. Host Kate Bolduan toured the stage, explaining the timing lights and mute button for the candidates. Network personalities recalled the chaotic first Trump-Biden debate, including moderator Chris Wallace, who remembered Trump’s frequent interruptions.
- Trump was relaxed on plane ride to Georgia, adviser says: Adviser Corey Lewandowski, who flew with Trump to Georgia, reported that Trump was in a good mood before the debate. Trump’s inner circle, including top aides Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, accompanied him. Despite some last-minute advice, Trump was relaxed, highlighting the challenge Republicans face in setting expectations for Biden.
- Trump has a modest enthusiasm advantage with his base: According to a new AP-NORC poll, 6 in 10 Republicans are very satisfied with Trump as a likely nominee, compared to about 4 in 10 Democrats who are satisfied with Biden. Overall, 56% of Americans are dissatisfied with Biden as the likely Democratic nominee, and 55% are dissatisfied with Trump as the likely Republican nominee.
- Republican representative raises concerns over how long Biden took to prep for the debate: U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds expects Biden to be prepared for the debate but expressed concern over the 81-year-old president taking significant time away from his duties to prepare. Donalds avoided questions about whether Republicans have lowered expectations too much by portraying Biden as in decline.
- California Gov. Gavin Newsom embraces his role in drumming up support for Biden: California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a key Biden surrogate, spoke to reporters, emphasizing Biden’s record and criticizing Trump as “unserious and unhinged.” Newsom, seen as a future presidential candidate, stressed the importance of the debate in a close election, though he noted it won’t be determinative.
- Ramaswamy says he hasn’t been asked, but would be ‘honored’ to serve in a Trump administration: Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy stated he hasn’t been asked by Trump to serve in an administration but would be “honored” to do so, possibly as White House chief of staff. Ramaswamy, speaking to reporters in the spin room, noted the strong support for Trump, saying his backers would “walk on hot coals” for him.
- The scene from downtown Atlanta: Outside the downtown hotel where President Joe Biden’s campaign is based, a crowd gathered to watch the president depart for Thursday’s debate. Biden campaign workers gave away ice cream in vanilla, chocolate, and birthday cake flavors, referencing Biden’s love for the treat. Supporters blew horns, rang cowbells, and chanted “Let’s go Joe!” and “Four more years!”
The Associated Press has the story:
Biden-Trump historic debate poised to shake up unprecedented White House race
Newslooks- (AP)
Joe Biden on Thursday afternoon greeted several dozen supporters outside his hotel in Atlanta, where he was spending the past several hours before the debate after arriving in the city from Camp David. Donald Trump landed in Atlanta later Thursday, about three and a half hours before the 9 p.m. debate starts.
Trump and Biden haven’t been on the same stage or even spoken since their last debate weeks before the 2020 presidential election. Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration after leading an unprecedented and unsuccessful effort to overturn his loss to Biden that culminated in the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection by his supporters.
Thursday’s broadcast on CNN will be the earliest general election debate in history. It’s the first-ever televised general election presidential debate hosted by a single news outlet after both campaigns ditched the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which had organized every matchup since 1988.
Under the network’s rules, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not qualify.
Aiming to avoid a repeat of their chaotic 2020 matchups, Biden insisted — and Trump agreed — to hold the debate without an audience and to allow the network to mute the candidates’ microphones when it is not their turn to speak. There will be two commercial breaks, another departure from modern practice. The candidates have agreed not to consult staff or others while the cameras are off.
The timing follows moves by both candidates to respond to nationwide trends toward early voting by shifting forward the political calendar. It remains to be seen whether the advanced schedule will dampen the effects of any missteps or crystallize them in the public’s mind.
“You have two men that have not debated in four years,” said Phillippe Reines, a Democratic political consultant who helped former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepare for debates with Trump in 2016.
Biden and Trump, he said, “don’t like each other, haven’t seen each other, (are) pretty rusty heading into the biggest night of their lives. That about sums up what’s at stake on Thursday.”
Both sides recognize the stakes
The debate falls days after the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, ending a federally guaranteed right to abortion and pushing reproductive rights into the center of politics ever since.
The faceoff also occurs just after the Biden White House took executive action to restrict asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border in an effort to lower the number of migrants entering the country. Trump has made illegal immigration a centerpiece of his campaign.
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza loom over the race, as do the candidates’ sharply differing views about America’s role in the world and its alliances. Differences on inflation, tax policy and government investment to build infrastructure and fight climate change will provide further contrasts.
Also in the political background: The Supreme Court is on the brink of announcing its decision on whether Trump is legally immune for his alleged role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. That’s weeks after Trump was convicted in New York of taking part in a hush money scheme that prosecutors alleged was intended to unlawfully influence the 2016 election.
Biden spent the week leading up to the debate secluded at Camp David with senior White House and campaign aides as well as a coterie of longtime advisers and allies. A mock stage was built at the compound to simulate the studio where the debate will be held, and Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, was reprising his role as Trump in practice sessions.
Aides say the work reflects Biden’s understanding that he can’t afford a flat showing. They insist the sometimes stodgy orator would rise to the occasion.
“You know this president,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday. “He likes to fight.”
Trump, meanwhile, has continued his more unstructured debate prep with two days of meetings at his Florida estate, phoning allies and supporters, and road-testing attacks in social media postings and in interviews with conservative-leaning outlets. The unorganized style that is a hallmark of the former president’s often-rambling rally speeches could present a challenge in the regimented, tightly timed debate format.
Trump and his aides have spent months chronicling what they argue are signs of Biden’s diminished stamina. In recent days, they’ve started to predict Biden will be stronger on Thursday, aiming to raise expectations for the incumbent.
CNN counts down
Even during commercials, CNN kept a countdown clock on its screen as Thursday’s presidential debate neared, along with a camera view of the near-empty studio where the two candidates would be.
It’s the network’s big moment. CNN’s Kate Bolduan took viewers on a tour of the stage, showing the lights that signal to the candidates how much time they have to talk, and when the mute button will turn their microphone off.
Several of the network’s personalities sat in the CNN “spin room,” recalling the first time Donald Trump and Joe Biden met in a debate four years ago. It was a less-than-pleasant memory for the moderator, Chris Wallace, who worked for Fox News back then and is now at CNN. Then-President Trump interrupted Biden so often that at one point the exasperated Democrat told him to shut up.
“I knew it was a disaster,” Wallace recalled.
Trump was relaxed on plane ride to Georgia, adviser says
Donald Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski flew to Georgia with the former president and said Trump was in a “good mood” ahead of Thursday’s general election debate.
Lewandowski said a “small footprint” of Trump’s inner circle was on the plane including top aides Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita.
Trump heard some last-minute advice, Lewandowski said, but was relaxed on the trip.
He also showcased the difficulty Republicans have had in setting expectations for President Joe Biden. At one point, Lewandowski told reporters that Biden “had to practice standing for 90 minutes.” But then Lewandowski noted Biden has “debated for 50 years” and should have a “good night.”
Trump has a modest enthusiasm advantage with his base
Donald Trump is going into tonight’s debate with more enthusiastic support from his GOP base than President Joe Biden has from Democrats. According to a new AP-NORC poll, 6 in 10 Republicans are extremely or very satisfied with Trump as a likely nominee, compared to about 4 in 10 Democrats who say they’re satisfied with Biden as a likely nominee.
But overall, Americans are displeased with their options.
According to the poll, most U.S. adults are “very” or “somewhat” dissatisfied with Biden (56%) being the Democratic Party’s likely nominee, and a similar majority (55%) of Americans are very or somewhat dissatisfied with Trump as the likely Republican Party nominee.
Most U.S. adults say they have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Biden (57%), and about 6 in 10 (59%) have a very or somewhat negative view of Trump.
Republican representative raises concerns over how long Biden took to prep for the debate
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican, says he expects Biden to be prepared and do well in the 90-minute debate, but he argued Americans should be concerned that the 81-year-old president took so much time “away from the job” to prepare for the debate.
Donalds sidestepped questions about whether presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Republicans have lowered expectations too much for Biden by casting him as an old man in decline.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom embraces his role in drumming up support for Biden
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is embracing his role as one of Biden’s top surrogates, talking up the president’s record and blasting Trump as “unserious and unhinged.”
It’s good practice for Newsom: He’s widely viewed as a future presidential candidate himself.
Newsom, who spoke to reporters in the spin room Thursday evening, said tonight’s debate matters because “everything is important” in a close election. But he said it won’t be determinative.
Ramaswamy says he hasn’t been asked, but would be ‘honored’ to serve in a Trump administration
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says he hasn’t been asked by Trump to serve in an administration but says he’d be happy to do so.
Ramaswamy told reporters in the spin room ahead of the debate that he’d be “honored” to serve in some capacity, like White House chief of staff.
Ramaswamy also noted that he saw copious Trump supporters on his way to the debate and said the former president’s backers would “walk on hot coals” to support him.
The scene from downtown Atlanta
Outside the downtown hotel where President Joe Biden’s campaign is based, a crowd was waiting to watch the president depart for Thursday’s presidential debate. Some Biden campaign workers were giving away ice cream, in a nod to the president’s love for the frozen treat.
They were offering vanilla, chocolate and birthday cake flavors.
A crowd of supporters came out of the hotel to see Biden off to the debate, blowing horns, ringing cowbells and chanting “Let’s go Joe!” and “Four more years!”
