US presidential debate live updates: Trump and Biden face off in Atlanta | US elections 2024

A feeling of stalemate has taken over the presidential contest thus far: polls have for months shown a very tight race between Trump and Biden, as well as an unusually low amount of enthusiasm for both candidates among the voting public.

The two campaigns are hoping that tonight’s debate will bring the sort of breakthrough moment – a pithy remark, a catastrophic misstep by their opponent – that has catapulted others to the White House. Here’s more on that dynamic, from the Guardian’s Robert Tait:

It could be the moment when a rematch that few seem to want finally comes to life: like two ageing prizefighters, Joe Biden and Donald Trump will enter the arena of political bloodsport on Thursday evening to resume a verbal sparring bout that will revive memories of the ugly exchanges when the two debated face to face four years ago.

A CNN studio in Atlanta will host the first presidential debate of the campaign between the same two candidates who contested the last election, which Biden won.

With more than four months to go until polling day in November, it is the earliest in any US presidential campaign that a debate between the two main candidates has ever been staged.

While some see the timing as premature, it could provide a chance to open up a contest that has become overshadowed by, among other things, Trump’s recent felony conviction, as well as assorted other legal travails that see him facing 54 criminal charges for trying to overturn the last election and for retaining classified documents.

We’re still more than an hour away from the start of CNN’s presidential debate in Atlanta, but various besuited, well-coiffed, seemingly all male politicians are already in the spin room the network has set up, where they are … well, they’re spinning reporters.

We’re talking about people like California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsom, who is thought to be a presidential contender some day:

And Republican congressman Byron Donalds, a potential vice-presidential pick for Trump:

As well as Corey Lewandowski, who was Trump’s campaign manager for part of his first run for the White House:

There are a few aspects of this debate that are different from Biden and Trump’s previous encounters, which were organized by the non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates.

For this election, the two campaigns opted to sideline the nonprofit and attend an event hosted by CNN, and the network’s rules are a little different than those of previous years.

For one, there will be two commercial breaks during the event, but Biden and Trump’s staff cannot interact with them while the cameras are off (one wonders if there will be any small talk between the two adversaries).

And then there’s the fact that the CNN control room has the option of muting either man’s microphone if they interrupt the other – which could change things for Trump, in particular, since he likes to talk over people.

Finally, there will be no audience in the studio, which means that if Trump or Biden lands a zinger, or flubs a line, you won’t hear applause, gasps or laughs.

Here’s more from CNN on how this evening’s debate will work:

The presidential debate starts at 9pm ET, and is being held at CNN’s studios in Atlanta.

Just about every major broadcaster will be carrying it – or you can watch it on the home of the OG politics nerds, CSPAN:

Good evening, US politics blog readers. All eyes are on CNN studios in Atlanta this evening, where Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be holding the first of two debates scheduled before the 5 November presidential election. Polls show that the candidates are nearly neck-in-neck in the race for the White House, and that many Americans are not pleased at having to put up with a rematch of the 2020 election, where Biden bested Trump. Since then, the Democratic president has seen his job approval sink, while Trump has been criminally indicted four separate times, with one of those cases resulting in his conviction on 34 felony charges last month. There will be plenty to see in tonight’s 90-minute showdown, but both campaigns are hoping for one specific event: a breakthrough moment that captures the public’s attention, and gives Trump or Biden renewed momentum. We will see if that happens.

Here’s what else we are watching out for:

• Make no mistake: Biden can sometimes still give a good speech. But at 81, he is also the oldest president to ever serve, and has a tendency to garble his words and mix up facts. Will it undermine him on the debate stage?

• Trump, who, at 78, is similarly old, can also flop when it comes to speechmaking – just look at how he rambled on after being convicted in his New York hush-money trial last month. How might he stack up against Biden, who always aims to stay on message?

• The format of this debate is unique in a few ways, since CNN is hosting instead of the non-profit Commission on Presidential Debates, which was spurned by both campaigns. There will be commercial breaks, for one, and, in a break from Biden and Trump’s previous encounters in 2020, when the then-president’s over-the-top attacks didn’t do him any favors, CNN has the power to turn off their microphones if they start arguing. What might that lead to when the two men, who do not like each other at all, are in the same room for the first time in four years?