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2020 Elections: Presidential Debates

Information on federal, state, and local elections.

Second presidential debate - October 22nd, 2020

The Commission on Presidential Debates will hold the final presidential debate on October 22, 2020, between President Donald Trump (R) and former Vice President Joe Biden (D) at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee

The debate will be 90 minutes without commercial breaks. It will be divided into six, 15-minute segments on the following topics selected by moderator, NBC News' Kristen Welker.

  • Fighting COVID-19
  • American families
  • Race in America
  • Climate change
  • National security
  • Leadership

The commission announced on October 19 that each candidate's microphone would be muted during the other candidate's two-minute opening remarks for each of the six segments. During the rest of the debate, the microphones would be on for open discussion. Both campaigns agreed to the rule.

Two Town Halls - October 15th, 2020

In lieu of the 2nd presidential debate, the two candidates will each host their own town hall.
President Donald J. Trump and Democratic Party candidate Joseph R. Biden Jr. will appear on television at 7 p.m. Central Time — on different channels. Trump will appear on NBC. Biden, meanwhile, will appear on ABC

 

October 15th, 2020 Debate - CANCELED

The 2nd Presidential Debate has been canceled.

Vice presidential debate - October 7th, 2020

The debate will be at Kingsbury Hall on President's Circle at the university Wednesday, October 7, 2020

The moderator: The vice-presidential debate will be moderated by Susan Page, USA Today’s Washington bureau chief.

Topics announced: Topics are announced by the moderator and the Commission on Presidential Debates a week before the debate. We know that there will be nine topics, and each will get about 10 minutes.

First presidential debate September 29th, 2020

The debate will be 90 minutes, and it will be divided into 15-minute segments on the following six topics:

  • The Trump and Biden records
  • The Supreme Court
  • COVID-19
  • The economy
  • Race and violence in our cities
  • The integrity of the election

Fox News' Chris Wallace, the debate's moderator, selected the topics.

Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, will co-host the debate. The University of Notre Dame in  South Bend, Indiana, was originally scheduled to host the event but withdrew on July 27, 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The debate will take place in person at the Sheila and Eric Samson Pavilion.