2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debate Coverage

Republican President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden will square off for two nationally televised debates beginning Tuesday, Sept. 29. Current Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris had their one and only debate on Wednesday, Oct. 7.

General Rules

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), sponsor of all presidential and vice presidential debates since 1987, said the debates will be moderated by a single individual and will run from 9-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) without commercial breaks.

Each moderator will select questions for their debate, and those questions will not be known by CPD or the candidates ahead of time. Moderators can extend segments and control them so each candidate has equal speaking time. The moderator is tasked with regulating conversation so “thoughtful and substantive exchanges occur.”

Below is a rundown of the basic details for each debate. Check back for a recap of the highlights of each debate after it occurs.

First Presidential Debate

The first presidential debate proceeded for 90 minutes without commercial interruptions. Commercial interruptions were the only type of interruptions not prominently featured throughout the evening. The debate on Sept. 29, 2020, was meant to be a discussion of six pre-announced topics, “The Trump and Biden Records,” “The Supreme Court,” “COVID-19,” “The Economy,” “Race and Violence in our Cities,” and “The Integrity of the Election.” While these topics were introduced, little in the way of concrete policy was mentioned as President Trump and Democratic Presidential Nominee Biden furiously chimed in with near-constant interruptions.

Moderator Chris Wallace struggled to keep the candidates on topic and following the rules throughout the debate. Wallace had to remind President Trump multiple times that his campaign had agreed that both candidates would get two minutes of uninterrupted speaking at the beginning of each topic and at one point became so exasperated by both candidates interrupting that he exclaimed: “Gentlemen, I hate to raise my voice, but … why should I be different than the two of you?” Wallace even lapsed into sarcasm at one point, saying to Trump “You know sir if you want to switch seats we could very quickly can [sic] do that.”

While very little specific policy was proposed, the topics of the debate were addressed in broad strokes.

• Supreme Court: Biden argued that the 2020 voters should decide who should fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, while President Trump said the 2016 election voters had already decided.
• COVID-19: Biden said Trump had done a terrible and disorganized job handling the pandemic. Trump disagreed and said things would have been far worse under Biden.
• Economy: Wallace asked if the economy would have a V-shaped recovery or a K-shaped one. Trump argued the economy has bounced back nicely and will continue to do so, while Biden argued that was not the case.
• Race and Violence in our Cities: Trump believes he has united people and that the increase in crime in a number of cities throughout the U.S. is a result of the policies of Democratic mayors. Wallace pointed out that this increase happened even in cities with Republican mayors. Biden said that while he emphatically does not support defunding the police, he thinks the solution to crime and racial strife is community policing.
• The Trump and Biden Records: Joe Biden touted his plan to create jobs through investment in alternative energy. Trump said he was lying and that Biden was promoting the Green New Deal. Biden countered by saying he did not support it.
• Election Integrity: Biden encouraged people to vote and said that voting matters, while Trump alleged that there is widespread voter fraud through voting by mail without presenting proof. When asked if they will accept the election result, Biden said yes, while Trump did not give a definitive answer.

Vice Presidential Debate

Vice President Mike Pence and vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris clashed over President Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the management of the U.S. economy, taxes, race relations, and the Supreme Court. The debate, moderated by Susan Page of USA Today, was civil compared to the chaos of the first presidential debate, but it still was marked by scathing attacks from each candidate. The mood was lightened when an errant fly landed on Pence’s head, and sat there, for the first minutes. Here are the highlights.

• Coronavirus Pandemic: Harris called the management of the pandemic the greatest failure of any presidential administration in American history. She recounted COVID-19 statistics showing 210,000 Americans dead and millions infected. She outlined the pandemic’s economic fallout, and the fact Trump knew about the potential severity of the disease and “didn’t tell you.” Pence defended the president’s initial pandemic responses, including: suspending all travel to and from China, and using federal authority to accelerate the production of medical equipment and research to fight the virus. He said there will be a vaccine by year-end.
• Economy: Pence credited President Trump with cutting taxes and regulations to reignite an economy suffering from the weakest growth since the Great Depression. He said the economy today is poised for a rapid, V-shaped recovery. Pence claimed Biden will hike taxes, if elected. Harris reiterated Biden’s public statements that he would not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. Harris criticized Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, saying it gave major tax cuts (totaling $1.5 trillion) largely to wealthy Americans. She argued that the economy under Trump was benefiting from the rebound engineered during the Obama administration. She outlined several Biden proposals for renewable energy, infrastructure, and college education that would grow the economy.
• Supreme Court: Pence defended the right of President Trump to select the next Supreme Court justice so close to the presidential election, while Harris said the Supreme Court choice should be decided by the next, newly elected president.
• China/Foreign Policy: Pence blamed the coronavirus pandemic on China and the World Health Organization, saying, “We will hold China accountable for the coronavirus.” Pence said Trump’s trade war is crucial to cut the trade deficit and that electing Biden would be surrendering to China. Harris argued that the trade war had led to the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. In foreign policy, she said that Biden would collaborate with our allies, instead of betraying our “friends” and embracing dictators as President Trump has done.
• Racism: Harris said Breonna Taylor, a Black medical worker who was shot and killed by police in her Louisville home, did not receive justice in a grand jury’s recent decision. Harris said she supported peaceful protests for police reform and racial justice, and proposed broad bias training for police officers. Pence defended the grand jury in the Taylor case, and condemned riots and looting in the U.S. in recent months.
• Presidential Health and Succession: Though the vice president is first in line of succession if a president dies, neither Pence nor Harris would answer the moderator’s question about whether they have talked to their running mates about plans if they die or are unable to perform their duties.

Second Scheduled Presidential Debate

The second presidential debate was scheduled to be held on Thursday, Oct., 15 in the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, but it has been canceled, after it had been changed to a virtual event.

President Trump said he would not participate in a virtual event. Biden’s campaign has said it would be available. Alternatively, Joe Biden scheduled a town hall meeting to be broadcast on ABC News on Oct. 15, 2020. The Trump campaign is expected to hold a rally on that same date.

Third Presidential Debate

The third and final presidential debate is still scheduled to be held on Thursday, Oct. 22 at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. This important debate takes place less than two weeks before Americans go to the polls on Nov. 3. As with all other debates, this one will be televised without interruption from 9-10:30 p.m. ET.

Kristen Welker, Co-Anchor of Weekend TODAY and White House Correspondent for NBC News will moderate using the same format as the first debate. Again, that format is six segments of 15 minutes each, two-minutes response time for each candidate, followed by a moderated debate.