(CNN) — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off in a historic debate Thursday on CNN.
It is the first debate between a sitting president and a former president. It will also be the first debate since 2020 featuring Biden, who did not face a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination, or Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee who skipped every GOP debate during the primary season.
The last time they met on the same debate stage was in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 22, 2020. Because their first debate quickly devolved into a glorified shouting match, the Commission on Presidential Debates instituted an unprecedented change: The candidates’ microphones were cut off while their opponent was answering the first question of each of the debate’s six segments.
The workers prepare the stage for the debate the day before the event. There was a last-minute agreement to remove the plexiglass barriers that would have been placed between the candidates. (Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
First lady Melania Trump attends the debate. (Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
Biden’s wife, Jill, second from left, walks alongside some of Trump’s children as they attend the debate. (Credit: Brenden Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
The stage is set for the debate. (Credit: Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images)
Professional golfer John Daly, left, and musician Kid Rock take their seats at the debate venue. They both supported Trump. (Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
Biden and Trump arrive on stage at the start of the debate. (Credit: Jim Bourg/Reuters)
Biden answers a question during the debate. At the time, Biden had a larger lead in national polls than Hillary Clinton did at this point in 2016. In the CNN Poll of Polls, Biden led Trump by 10 points nationally and also showed considerable strength in the states. key battlegrounds in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, where Trump won by narrow margins in 2016.
Biden answers a question during the debate. (Credits: Julio Cortez/AP)
People watch the debate from their vehicles in San Francisco. (Credit: Jeff Chiu/AP)
Donald Trump speaks (Credit: Jim Bourg/Pool/AP)
Trump spoke of his own experience fighting Covid-19 and downplayed a resurgence, which medical experts had been warning about for months as the country headed into fall and winter. ‘There are some spikes and spikes elsewhere. They will soon go away,’ Trump said
Biden holds a mask as Trump takes notes during the Covid-19 portion of the debate. (Credits: Morry Gash/Pool/AP)
The debate took place on the campus of Belmont University in Nashville. (Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
The two men offered very different visions for the coming months. At the time, Covid-19 cases were rising in more than 30 states. (Credit: Morry Gash/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
The debate was much more substantive and controlled than his first presidential debate, which devolved into a shouting match. (Credit: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
A stopwatch is displayed near Trump. Each candidate has two uninterrupted minutes to speak at the beginning of each debate segment. (Credit: Jim Bourg/Pool/Getty Images)
Biden looks at the clock during the debate. It lasted just over 90 minutes. (Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)
The lecterns were more than 3 meters apart. (Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Welker asks a question. (Credit: Morry Gash/Pool/Getty Images)
Trump and Biden accompanied by their spouses at the end of the debate. (Credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
Several people watch the demonstrations taking place at Belmont University before the debate. (Credit: Mark Humphrey/AP)
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