WASHINGTON (AP) — The second general election debate of the 2024 presidential campaign is here, but it’s the first matchup for the current nominees.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are taking part in Tuesday night’s debate in Philadelphia. After a disastrous performance in the first general election debate of this cycle in Atlanta, President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, upending the campaign in its closing months and kicking off the rapid-fire process that allowed Harris to rise as Democrats’ nominee in his place.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is covering the debate with journalists in Philadelphia and Atlanta. A live stream of the ABC News debate is available on ajc.com and the AJC News app.
How to watch the debate:
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. The full debate is available live on ajc.com and the AJC app.
Customers of DirecTV may need an alternate way to watch. As of Monday, ABC was not available on DirecTV because of a contract dispute.
What time is it? The debate will start at 9 p.m. EDT on Tue., Sept. 10. It is scheduled to last 90 minutes.
The ABC News debate moderators are “World News Tonight” anchor David Muir and “Prime” anchor Linsey Davis.
How to follow AJC coverage of the debate:
PODCAST: On the “Politically Georgia” podcast at AJC.com, AJC reporters and guests break down what to expect — and what to make of it afterward. Listen live at 10 a.m. on 90.1 FM WABE daily or anytime on demand.
- On Wednesday morning: a BONUS debate reaction podcast from Politically Georgia, with audio from our AJC contributors. It will post at 4:00 am. on ajc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
NEWSLETTER: Sign up for the Politically Georgia newsletter for subscribers and AJC Politics P.M. delivered weekday afternoons.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow updates on X at @ajc and on Instagram at @ajcnews. You can also follow Michelle Baruchman, Greg Bluestein, Caleb Groves, Natalie Mendenhall, Tia Mitchell, Patricia Murphy, Susan Potter and Alex Sanz.
NEWS and UPDATES: Find debate previews, coverage and reaction on ajc.com, the AJC News app and print and ePaper editions of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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 face 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 framework for the ABC News 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 Oct. 1 between Walz and Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. That event is expected to be held in New York.
– Reporting and information from Meg Kinnard of The Associated Press and from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are included in this report.
