US presidential debate: Donald Trump and Joe Biden face off in first clash of election campaign

The rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden for the White House explodes with the first debate of the US presidential campaign. Here’s everything you need to know.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are poised to face off in the first explosive debate of the United States presidential campaign.

The rematch between the current and former presidents comes four years after the pair clashed three times during the 2020 election cycle.

But in a first for modern US election history, the rules of the game have been overturned with major changes to the timing, regulations and eligibility criteria.

How Trump and Biden perform on the debate stage will set the tone and tenor of the next four months before the United States goes to the polls in early November.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden face off in a rematch of their 2020 presidential debates. Picture: AFP

When is the first Biden-Trump debate?

The first debate rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will kick off in the US city of Atlanta during America’s TV prime time on Thursday night.

The live broadcast will air in Australia at 11am AEST on Friday, June 28 and run for about 90 minutes.

It will be their fourth debate after the two clashed over three rounds during the 2020 presidential election.

The first debate will be held at CNN’s studio in Atlanta, Georgia. Picture: Getty Images

What are the rules for Biden and Trump in this debate?

Trump famously challenged Biden to meet him “any time, any place”. As a result, the Biden campaign seized on the opportunity for a debate unlike any other in recent presidential election history.

It will be the first since 1988 not to be run by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has traditionally organised the location, moderators, dates and rules for almost 40 years. Instead, the debate is being put on directly between the two campaigns and the television networks broadcasting the clash.

Rather than three debates leading up to polling day, the first of two debates for 2024 will be the earliest in modern memory.

The other rule changes include:

No opening statements

Muting of microphones while the other candidate is speaking.

No live audience

No pre-written notes

No other items are allowed besides a pen, pad of paper and bottle of water

No leaving their standing positions behind the speaking lecterns

Trump will have the final closing statement, which was determined by a coin flip.

Trump proposed a drug test before the start of the debate, but a Biden campaign spokesman dismissed the idea as “frankly silly”.

How are both leaders preparing for the debate?

Trump has avoided traditional “debate prep” sessions against stand-in actors for Biden. He has instead huddled with allies to hone in on “policy discussions”, while also holding campaign rallies to test out attack lines and mock his opponent’s disappearance from public in the lead-up to the event.

“It’s been reported that right now, Crooked Joe’s gone to a log cabin to study, prepare. No, he didn’t. He’s sleeping now because they want to get him good and strong,” Trump said during a rally in Philadelphia.

Trump eschewed traditional debate prep to practice his zingers and one-liners in front of a live audice at campaign events. Picture: AFP

“So a little before debate time, he gets a shot in the arse … He’ll come out all jacked up … Whatever happened to all that cocaine that was missing a month ago?”

Biden has been cloistered with allies and advisers at Camp David where the prep team has run the president through the traditional gauntlet of mock debates. Biden’s personal lawyer Bob Bauer rumoured to be acting as the stand-in for Trump, as he did in 2020.

Biden walks to Marine One on his way to Camp David for seven days of debate prep. Picture: AFP

What issues are expected to be raised between Biden and Trump?

The Biden campaign has been drilling in on Trump’s time in the White House and recent comments on abortion and immigration, as well as stoking fears that the former president would become a dictator on “day one” if he wins in November.

Biden is also expected to hammer Trump as a “convicted criminal” following the guilty verdict in New York on falsifying business documents. 

Trump, however, will parry the felony convictions as an example of political persecution, while Biden’s Department of Justice refused to indict the sitting president on classified document charges, while also pursuing his son Hunter Biden on minor gun charges despite being in possession of a laptop full of potentially incriminating material.

Trump is also expected to highlight Biden’s record on the economy, inflation and foreign policy; from the withdrawal from Afghanistan to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hillary Clinton has debated both of them. What’s her take?

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the only person to debate, and lose, against both Trump (2016 presidential election) and Biden (2008 presidential primary).

She said Trump’s debates were “a blizzard of interruptions, insults and lies”.

“It is a waste of time to try to refute Mr. Trump’s arguments like in a normal debate. It’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are. He starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather,” she wrote in a New York Times op-ed.

“If he doesn’t literally light himself on fire on Thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential.”

Trump and Clinton debate in the 2016 presidential election campaign. Picture: AFP

Clinton and Biden squared off in the Democratic presidential primary debates in 2007. Picture: AP Photo

Her political party colleague, meanwhile, “has facts and truth on his side” but is disadvantaged by a precedent of poor first debate performances by the incumbent president.

But Biden will win if his “story comes through” on his stewardship of the Covid lockdowns, inflation, and climate change, she claimed.

“Yes, he’s 81,” Clinton wrote. “That’s just three years older than Mr. Trump. And his lifetime of service and experience helps him get things done that make our country stronger and all of our lives better.”

How can I watch the first debate between Trump and Biden?

While hosted and broadcast by CNN, the debate will be simulcast live across major American news organisations like Fox News, NBC, CBS and their respective channels on YouTube.

In Australia, Sky News launches ‘Sky News Election Channel’ on Friday 28 June to televise the debate.

Who are the moderators for the first Biden-Trump debate?

CNN defended its moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, in a statement saying “there are no two people better equipped to co-moderate a substantial and fact-based discussion”.

It comes after Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt kicked off CNN after levelling accusations of political bias against the two anchors.

After the first 2020 debate between Trump and Biden, Tapper called it a “hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck”.

CNN’s Jake Tapper was accused of bias after calling Trump’s 2020 debate performance a “disgrace”. Picture: AFP

“That was a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck,” Tapper said after the event. “That was the worst debate I have ever seen. It wasn’t even a debate. It was a disgrace and it’s primarily because of President Trump.”

Bash agreed it “was a shit show.”

Who is eligible to participate in the debates?

To participate, CNN requires “a candidate’s name must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency” prior to the June 20 deadline.

That rules out the closest third-party candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr., who lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission complaint alleging CNN was violating federal election law by setting up a presidential debate four months out from polling day.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr was denied a spot on the debate stage. Picture: AFP

How many presidential debates are there?

While there are usually three presidential debates, Biden has only agreed to two in the lead-up to the election in November. 

When is the next presidential debate? What happens next?

The second, and final, debate will be held on September 10 and be broadcast by the US’s ABC News.

The unusually early timing of the debates has led to currently unsubstantiated speculation that Biden could be replaced as a candidate if he has a disastrous performance against Trump.

There will be almost two months between the first debate and when the Democratic Party officially nominates its presidential candidate at its National Convention between August 19 to 20.

Originally published as US presidential debate: Donald Trump and Joe Biden face off in first clash of election campaign