Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump meet for the first time on Tuesday night in their only scheduled debate, a clash that could prove pivotal in their pitched battle for the White House. The nationally televised debate beginning at 9 p.m. ET (0100 GMT on Wednesday) takes place just eight weeks before the Nov. 5 election. The race is a close one that could easily swing in either direction and early voting will start in some states in the coming days.
The encounter is particularly important for Harris, with opinion polls showing that more than a quarter of likely voters feel they do not yet know enough about her, in contrast to the well-known former president. The debate offers Harris, a former prosecutor, a chance to make her case against Trump, whose felony convictions, outspoken backing for supporters convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and frequent falsehoods offer plenty of fertile ground.
It will be the first time the two candidates have met and follows weeks of personal attacks on Harris by Trump and his allies that have included racist and sexist insults. A similar outburst on stage could turn off undecided voters, according to John Geer, a professor at Vanderbilt University and an expert on presidential politics.
Harris is prepared for the possibility. "Donald Trump has a real problem with the truth," she wrote in an X post-Tuesday morning that was echoed in "Crowd Size," a campaign ad featuring former President Barack Obama ridiculing Trump's false claims about crowd sizes at his events.
Here’s how to watch the debate:
What time is the debate?
The debate will start at 9 p.m. EDT Tuesday and is expected to last 90 minutes. It’s being moderated by “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis.
What channel is the debate on?
ABC News is carrying the debate live on its broadcast network as well as its streaming platform ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. Several networks have also agreed to carry the event live.
Where is the debate?
The second general election debate of this cycle is taking place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. As was the case for the June debate, there will be no audience present.
Pennsylvania is perhaps the nation's premier swing state, and both candidates have spent significant time campaigning across Pennsylvania. Trump was holding a rally in Butler, in western Pennsylvania, in mid-July when he was nearly assassinated by a gunman perched on a nearby rooftop. Harris chose Philadelphia as the spot where she unveiled Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in August.
In 2020, it was Pennsylvania's electoral votes that put Biden over the top and propelled him into the White House, four years after Trump won the state. Biden’s victory came after more than three days of uncertainty as election officials sorted through a surge of mail-in votes that delayed the processing of some ballots, and the Trump campaign mounted several legal challenges.
Which candidates will be on stage?
Two candidates-- Harris and Trump-- will be on stage, and it'll be the first time that they've ever met. It’s also Harris’ first debate since 2020, when she and Trump’s running mate — then-Vice President Mike Pence-- debated through plexiglass shields during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With Biden's departure from the campaign after the first debate, there was some concern whether Trump and Harris would be facing off at all. As the vice president wound her way from Biden's running mate to Democratic nominee, Trump said he had made his initial debate agreement with Biden, inserting doubt into whether he would meet Harris on a debate stage.
Then there was the kerfuffle over the muting of microphones — except for a candidate's turn to speak — something Biden's campaign had made a condition of its decision to accept any debates this year. Some aides have said they have come to regret that decision, saying voters were shielded from hearing Trump’s outbursts. Harris' campaign said it wanted all microphones to be live, and, while Trump said he'd rather have mics “probably on,” his campaign agreed to the same mic muting in place for the June debate with Biden.
The current ABC framework for the second debate has the same rules for mic muting, no live audience or written notes. So far, the candidates have not come to an agreement on meeting again for another debate.
What’s up next?
CBS News will host a vice presidential debate on October 1 between Walz and Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. That event is planned to be held in New York City.
(With inputs from agency)
