which offers an unparalleled opportunity for both candidates to try to shape the political narrative.
Biden and Trump enter the debate facing fierce headwinds. Polls show neither is liked by a majority of Americans and they offer sharply different views on virtually every core issue. Trump has promised sweeping plans to remake the government if he returns to the White House, and Biden argues that his opponent would threaten the nation’s democracy.
The debate will be held without an audience in the network’s studios in Atlanta, starting at 9:00 pm local time, that is, 8:00 pm Colombia time.
The two oldest candidates in American history – Biden is 81 and Trump is 78 – They will stand behind a lectern for 90 minutes; Joe Biden’s microphone will be muted when Donald Trump speaks and vice versa.
Invectives, mockery, and a sitting president, Donald Trump, constantly interrupting his opponent Joe Biden, who finally snapped at him: ““Can you shut up, man?” CNN hopes to avoid the cacophony that dominated the first televised duel of the 2020 presidential election.
CNN has not reported its questions and does not plan to do a real-time fact-check.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump won’t have teleprompters or little notepads ready, but they will have something to take notes with. They will also not be able to meet with their teams during the two commercial breaks.
Both candidates have favoured the news channel CNN to the detriment of the Commission on Presidential Debates, an independent body. Given the stakes, the Warner Bros. Discovery group channel has authorised its rivals to broadcast the debate simultaneously, with the CNN logo and without external commentary.
This means that conservative Fox News loyalists will be able to remain on their favorite network. Fox News plans a special program two hours before the debate, with its editorial writers Jesse Watters or Sean Hannity, who regularly attack CNN, which they consider “anti-Trump.” The second has already called Jake Tapper, one of the debate moderators, a “radical left militant who hides behind a journalist mask.”
It is the first time that the debate has been organized so soon, more than four months before the election. The candidates have not yet been officially nominated by their respective parties. “The risk is that the American public won’t pay much attention to current affairs over the summer,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson.
On September 10 there will be a second debate on the ABC network, two months before the scrutiny.
The debate will be broadcast on WEEKwhere you will find all the information in real time.
*With information from AFP.
