Donald Trump vs Joe Biden in CNN Presidential Debate – Fox News
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Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden go head-to-head in the first presidential debate of 2024.
Covered by: Gabriele Regalbuto, Emma Colton, Andrew Mark Miller, Brooke Singman, Brandon Gillespie, Adam Shaw, Kyle Morris, Elizabeth Elkind, Brianna Herlihy, Julia Johnson, Michael Lee, Jamie Joseph, Aubrie Spady, Matteo Cina, Chris Pandolfo and Paul Steinhauser
President Biden, a Democrat, and former President Trump, a Republican, will meet in Atlanta on Thursday for the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle, hosted by CNN.
The CNN Presidential Debate will begin at 9 p.m. ET and will be simulcast on the Fox News Channel. Viewers can also tune into Fox’s live coverage before and after the debate for expert analysis.
Only Biden and Trump will be on the stage, as the third party and independent candidates running for the White House — including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — failed to reach the qualifying thresholds.
The candidates bypassed the Commission on Presidential Debates — which had organized these showdowns every four years for more than three decades — and instead mutually agreed to the rules and conditions offered by CNN.
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incoming update…
Polling and data guru Nate Silver revealed former President Trump was solidly favored to win the White House in his first presidential election forecast on Wednesday.
“The candidate who I honest-to-God think has a better chance (Trump) isn’t the candidate I’d rather have win (Biden),” Silver, who formerly ran polling analysis website FiveThirtyEight, wrote in his “Silver Bulletin” substack.
Silver’s forecast model, based on 40,000 simulations, found Trump had a 65.7% of winning the electoral college, compared to Biden, who had a 33.7% chance. However, Biden is slightly favored to win the popular vote. Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 but won the presidency with a slew of narrow swing state wins.
“If the Electoral College/popular vote gap looks anything like it did in 2016 or 2020, you’d expect Biden to be in deep trouble if the popular vote is roughly tied,” Silver wrote.
Silver noted that his model adjusts “for whether polls are conducted among registered or likely voters, the presence or absence of [Robert F. Kennedy] Jr., and house effects,” and added that his polling averages “weight more reliable polls more heavily.”
The data expert wrote that there was still time for Biden to turn things around and suggested the president give the nomination to Vice President Harris or someone else at the Democratic convention. However, he wrote, “Disclaimer: that also might be a terrible idea.”
“And he’s really not that far behind,” Silver wrote of Biden. “But the race isn’t a toss-up. That’s at best a white lie — a convenient fiction that allows everyone to shirk accountability for their forecasts and their decisions.”
Fox News Digital’s Hanna Panreck contributed to this update.
Charly Triballeau-Pool/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump’s conviction in his historic trial in New York City last month sent his 2024 election rematch with President Biden into uncharted waters.
Trump was the first former or current president to stand trial in a criminal case.
While it has yet to be determined how much the jury’s verdict of guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records could impact the trajectory of the presidential race, Trump continues to hammer his points about the need for a stronger, safer, and more prosperous America.
Trump currently holds a slight edge, both in national polling and in public opinion surveys, in most of the crucial battleground states that will likely decide the election.
A Monmouth University poll that was released this month spotlighted that the impact on the presidential election of the Trump verdict is minimal, with both candidates continuing “to draw almost identical levels of support, although voter enthusiasm for this rematch has increased among both Republicans and Democrats.”
Fifty-seven percent of those questioned in the Monmouth poll said that they thought the decision to bring Trump to trial was politically motivated.
The verdict in Trump’s trial quickly sparked a donation frenzy, with the former president raising millions for his campaign in the immediate hours afterward.
Following the verdict being made public in Trump’s trial, his campaign announced that it had hauled in $34.8 million in fundraising from 6 p.m. ET to midnight on May 30, immediately after Trump was found guilty.
On the evening of May 31, the day after Trump was found guilty by the jury, the Trump campaign announced it had raised nearly $53 million in the 24 hours following the verdict through their online digital fundraising platform.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this update.
Texas DPS
Illegal immigration is a top issue on voters minds this election cycle, with the U.S. seeing record numbers of illegal migrant crossings at the border. There were more than 2.4 million in federal fiscal year 2023 alone on top of three years of the highest crossings ever seen. Republicans have hammered Biden over the crisis, arguing that it is his policies — and the rolling back of Trump-era ones — that have fueled the crisis.
Former President Trump has promised to authorize the largest domestic deportation operation in U.S. history if elected, as well as reversing “every Open Border policy of the Biden administration.” He has also promised to deploy special forces to the border and reinstate his 2017 travel ban.
In Thursday’s CNN Presidential Debate, it is likely Trump will point out alarming incidents of rape and murder allegedly committed by illegal migrants to help make his case.
Biden, meanwhile, has argued that the underlying problem is a “broken” immigration system that only Congress can fix with legislative reform. Early in his presidency, Biden introduced a reform bill in Congress, but Republicans object to a provision to including a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants already here.
The president also backed a separate bipartisan Senate bill introduced this year, but it has failed to pick up steam. Biden has blamed Trump for stifling the bill, which includes additional funding for border operations as well as heightened asylum restrictions.
Biden has made two major immigration moves in recent weeks as congressional action stalls. One was a move to further limit asylum claims by migrants once average border encounters exceed 2,500 a day. Last week he also announced a deportation shield for some illegal immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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Americans on both sides of the aisle will be on edge Thursday night as they watch both President Biden and former President Trump carefully for overt signs of aging – including their mental acuity.
The 81-year-old president is facing off against his 78-year-old rival in the CNN Presidential Debate.
Much has been made about Biden’s mental fitness for office, particularly as critics point out viral video clips that appear to show public gaffes or lapses from the President in thought. Former White House doctor-turned-House GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson has even made several demands that Biden take a cognitive test.
But Trump’s foes on the left have also accused the ex-president of losing his sharpness. Progressive X influencers seized on Trump after a speech in Nashville over the weekend, accusing him of going on rambling and sometimes incoherent tangents.
Unlike Biden, however, Trump took a cognitive test while in office to try to dispel rumors about his mental fitness at the time.
The election board of North Carolina has denied two political parties’ bids to nominate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Cornel West as their candidates.
State election officials have confirmed that We the People Party submitted more than the 13,865 valid signatures necessary to register as a political party ahead of the 2024 election. The Justice for All Party similarly turned in more than the minimum number of signatures necessary.
Republican members of the election board on Wednesday backed the two parties’ push for formal recognition, which would allow them to select candidates for the ballot.
Three Democrats on the election board blocked the motion, citing concerns about how the third parties presented themselves during the signature gathering process and how voters understood their goals.
A delay has been instituted as officials further investigate whether the two parties presented themselves as coherent political organizations or only as a vehicle for Kennedy and West as “independent” candidates.
Independent candidates in North Carolina are subject to a much higher 83,188 signature threshold to qualify for the ballot.
Board Chair Alan Hirsch told leaders of We The People that the challenge is “not intended to deny your status as a party.”
“It’s just to do our job and to be sure that […] the people that signed the petition know the purpose and intent,” he explained.
The elections board will reconvene on July 9 to revisit the parties’ demand for formal recognition.
Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this update.
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., endorsed Democratic President Biden on the eve of Thursday’s CNN Presidential Debate.
The former military pilot and Iraq War veteran transformed into a major Republican Trump critic after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, led by Trump supporters who aimed to upend the congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory. On Wednesday, he charged that former President Trump is “a direct threat to every fundamental American value” in a video announcing his endorsement.
Hours later, standing in the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, Kinzinger said that “if you’d have told me three years ago that ‘You’re going to be endorsing a Democrat for president in three years,’ I probably wouldn’t have believed you.”
“But I got to tell you, the stakes of this moment are way too high,” Kinzinger added.
Another vocal GOP Trump critic, former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, joined Kinzinger at the news conference, along with former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Georgia Senate Democrat Leader Gloria Butler.
“Going against the grain as a Republican and supporting Democrat Joe Biden for president is not easy, but I’m not looking at this election through the lens of being a Republican,” Duncan explained. “I’m looking through the lens of being an American. An American that cares more about the future of my country than the [morally] bankrupt nominee of my party.”
Wisconsin DNR
President Biden has spearheaded significant spending on climate infrastructure, which his administration believes will mitigate some of the effects of natural disasters.
The president has pushed an environmental agenda that includes decreasing carbon output over several years, often attributing “unprecedented wildfires, … extreme flooding, … [and] record breaking hurricanes” to “the climate crisis.” He has also pushed for additional funding for disaster relief in spending bills.
Meanwhile, former president Trump has been critical of Biden’s spending on climate initiatives and has suggested he will attempt to end various grants made available by legislation Biden championed. In some disaster instances, Trump has called out states for not taking proper precautions. In 2020, the former president blasted California for allegedly mismanaging its land and failing to do the necessary maintenance to avoid disastrous wildfires.
“Maybe we’re just going to have to make them pay for it because they don’t listen to us,” he said at the time. “I’ve been telling them this now for three years, but they don’t want to listen … ‘The environment, the environment,’ but they have massive fires again.”
iStock
President Biden’s approach to health care has been centered on access and affordability. His administration has been committed to continuing and building off of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, passed during President Obama’s time in office. He sees capping the price of insulin to $35 dollars through the Inflation Reduction Act as one of his administration’s biggest achievements, often reminding Americans of it both officially and on the campaign trail.
Former President Trump similarly worked to address affordability and bring prices down for health care services and drugs across the country while he was in office. To do this, his administration focused on price transparency by requiring health care providers to make itemized billing available to patients. Despite being unable to repeal the Affordable Care Act while in office, Trump has suggested he would attempt to reform Obamacare if reelected in 2024, claiming he is “seriously looking at alternatives” to it.
STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
President Biden has pointed to several different positive economic markers throughout his presidency, including the stock market and incremental improvements to inflation. He has acknowledged the economic issues that many still face, promising to ease taxation burdens on middle class families but also vowing to raise taxes on those who make more than $400,000 a year and large corporations.
Former President Trump has been critical of the economy under Biden, specifically the pressure Americans have felt during inflation. He has vowed to stop spending on “grants and giveaways under the Joe Biden mammoth socialist bills like the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.”
Further, Trump has promised to use the impoundment power to cut waste and bureaucracy, thereby claiming to save taxpayers money . Trump would also be expected to seek to renew the tax cuts he secured in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which will begin to expire at the end of 2025.
Fox News Digital-Hannah Grossman
“Woke culture” is a term that has gained popularity in recent years to describe a social and cultural awareness of issues related to social justice, inequality, and systemic oppression. The term “woke” means being awake or aware, especially in the context of social and political issues.
In contemporary usage, “woke culture” refers to a heightened awareness and consciousness about issues such as racism , sexism, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, economic inequality, and other forms of systemic discrimination. It encompasses an understanding of how historical and ongoing social injustices impact marginalized communities. People who are considered “woke” are seen as being engaged in advocating for and supporting these causes.
While “woke culture” is embraced by many as a means of raising awareness and promoting social justice, it can also be a subject of debate. Some critics argue that it can lead to excessive political correctness or “cancel culture,” where individuals are excluded for their views. Generally “woke” perspectives are associated with left-wing political and social movements.
In early June, former President Trump issued a stark warning about a “woke” U.S. military during an exclusive interview with “Fox & Friends Weekend,” vowing to fire far-left military leaders as the Pentagon faces backlash for honoring Pride Month.
“I got to know the real fighting generals. There’s not ‘woke’ in the military. There’s ‘woke’ at the top,” Trump said during the sit-down interview with hosts Pete Hegseth, Will Cain and Rachel Campos-Duffy.
Fox News’ Bailee Hill contributed to this report.
CNN’s debate moderators, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will be the sole individuals asking questions in tonight’s debate as there will be no live audience in the studio for the first time in decades.
President Biden and former President Trump’s respective campaigns agreed to the no audience rule earlier this month. They also agreed the candidates’ microphones will be muted outside their designated response times, as well as that they will only have access to a bottle of water, a pen and a pad of paper while at the podium.
The agreement to forego the live audience is a throwback to the first televised presidential debates in 1960 between then-Democrat Sen. John F. Kennedy, Jr. and then-Vice President Richard Nixon.
There were smaller audiences during the 2020 presidential debates due to the then-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Trump campaign announced on Thursday morning that they would launch two ads for debate day, their first two spots since the end of the GOP primaries over three months ago.
A commercial titled “Promises” slams what it charges is “Biden’s disastrous record that has destroyed the booming Trump economy, [importing] over 11 million unvetted illegals from all over the world into our country.”
And an ad titled “Who is laughing Now” takes aim at the 81-year-old president’s physical abilities, as it argues that “Biden can’t ride a bicycle, climb a flight of stairs, or find his way off a stage.”
The spot suggests that the president wouldn’t last another four years in the White House and that “waiting in the wings” is who they derogatorily call “Cackling Kamala Harris.”
The Trump campaign wouldn’t say how much money they’re putting behind the one-day ad buy. But AdImpact said it was tracking only $100 thousand in reservations from the Trump team.
The Biden campaign announced Thursday morning what they said would be a seven-figure “media blitz” launched ahead of the CNN Presidential Debate.
The campaign said it includes ads on the websites of Buzzfeed, USA Today, CNN, El Tiempo Latino, Telemundo, theGrio and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where they’ll spotlight what they argue are “the dangers of electing Trump to a second term.”
Biden’s team also took out full-page ads in the hard copy editions of USA Today.
“Today’s show of force in Atlanta and across the battlegrounds emphasizes the two contrasting visions the American people will see on the debate stage tonight: between President Biden fighting for the American people, and Donald Trump whose campaign is focused on benefiting one person only: himself,” Biden campaign senior spokesperson Kevin Munoz argued in a statement.
The Biden campaign , which has been dominating the TV ad wars since Trump went dark on air after clinching the Republican presidential nomination in mid-March, has been launching new ads each day this week in the lead up to the debate.
The latest spot, shared first with Fox News, features Genesee County, Michigan Sheriff Chris Swanson discussing how he watched in horror as Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and attacked Capitol police officers on Jan. 6, 2021.
AdImpact, a leading national ad tracking firm, reported that the Biden campaign reserved $2 million in ad reservations for Thursday alone.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this update.
(Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
The 2020 presidential debates between Biden and Trump saw a number of memorable moments, including tense attacks and clashes over Hunter Biden and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first debate in Sep. 2020 saw both men routinely talk over one another, culminating in an outburst from Biden.
“Will you shut up, man?” he said. “This is so un-presidential.”
The subject of Hunter came up during the final debate, forcing Biden to go on the defensive over allegations he profited from his son’s foreign business dealings.
“I think you owe an explanation to the American people,” Trump told Biden.
Biden responded: “I have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life.” Turning to attack Trump, he added: “We learned this president paid 50 times the tax in China, has a secret bank account with China. Does business in China.”
“I have released all of my tax returns … 22 years of my tax returns,” Biden said. “You have not released a single solitary year of your tax returns … what are you hiding?”
Concerning COVID-19, Biden said of Trump’s handling of the pandemic, “Anybody responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America.”
“We can’t lock ourselves in a basement like he does. … He has this thing about living in a basement,” Trump said, echoing his previous exhortations to Americans to not be afraid of the virus.
The two also clashed over immigration, with Biden repeating the often used Democrat talking point at the time that Trump was responsible for putting illegal immigrant children in “cages.”
“Parents … kids were ripped from their arms and they were separated … those kids are alone, nowhere to go,” Biden said of the Trump administration policy concerning family separation, which, before it ended in 2018, was highly controversial.
Trump replied by pointing out that the infrastructure for many of the controversies on the border in the past four years was carried over from the Obama-Biden administration.
“Who built the cages, Joe?” Trump said.
Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller and Tyler Olsen contributed to this report
Former President Trump is taking a vastly different approach to debate prep from President Biden.
While Biden has opted to hunker down with his advisors at Camp David, Trump has so far avoided any mock debates with his team and is focusing heavily on meeting with close allies and hitting the campaign trail.
Trump has been gathering with Republican allies for private meetings in recent weeks as he looks ahead to the debate, including a handful of those in contention to be his vice presidential running mate, senators and other policy experts, sources tell Fox News Digital. His campaign has characterized the meetings as “policy discussions.”
One of the vice presidential nominee contenders, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, huddled with Trump and members of his staff earlier this month at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida. Sources familiar with the meeting confirmed the encounter and that the session centered around debate messaging on the economy and how to target Biden over inflation.
Trump also took part in another policy discussion last week during his one-day trip to the nation’s capital, where he met behind closed doors with Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, another potential running mate, as well as first-term Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri.
Trump co-campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, veterans in the political world, also sat in on the session, which included discussions on how to deal with likely debate questions on the Jan. 6, 2021, protests at the U.S. Capitol by supporters of the former president aiming to disrupt congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Trump has also held policy discussions with senior advisers Kellyanne Conway and Stephen Miller, and with former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell. To date though, none of the sessions have included any mock debates, which is a switch from 2020 when former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie role-played Biden to prepare Trump for the general election debates.
“President Trump takes on numerous tough interviews every single week and delivers lengthy rally speeches while standing, demonstrating elite stamina. He does not need to be programmed by staff or shot up with chemicals like Joe Biden does,” senior adviser Jason Miller told Fox News Digital concerning why Trump has yet to do any traditional mock debates.
Trump has demanded that both candidates be drug tested before the debate.
Fox News Digital’s Brandon Gillespie contributed to this update.
Fox News
Presidential candidates often prepare for debates by having staff and allies assist them with policy refreshers and holding mock debates, during which they assume what the opponent might say and come up with retorts.
In getting ready for the debate, former President Trump reportedly did away with this traditional practice, instead opting for what were characterized as policy discussions with his political advisers ahead of the match up, according to the New York Post.
On the other hand, President Biden retreated to Camp David to prep for the debate. His team created a mock debate stage with lights to replicate the experience, The New York Times reported.
He is also reportedly being assisted by at least 16 current and former staffers to develop strategy and shape his responses. Biden’s personal attorney, Bob Bauer, played the role of Trump years prior for debate preparation, and he is reportedly expected to be taking on the project once again, per Politico.
In a recent interview, Bauer recalled being unafraid to confront Biden with arguments and claims that he may not like in order to fully prepare him for his opponent.
The vastly different approaches taken by President Biden and former President Trump in prepping for Thursday’s presidential debate have continued to diverge, with the former hoping he can “trigger” the latter in the heat of the moment, and the latter relying heavily on his campaign experience, multiple reports show.
Biden has spent the last five days at Camp David in rural Maryland huddling with at least 16 current and former aides, according to The New York Times, while Trump, who spoke with Fox News over the weekend, has held “policy discussions” with allies to prep for what is expected to be an epic clash on the debate stage in CNN’s Atlanta studios.
An old movie theater and airplane hangar have been outfitted as a mock debate stage, where Biden, despite having varying hours and a non-rigid schedule, is preparing to go on the offensive against Trump on issues like immigration and abortion, as well as push back on claims — appearing to be supported by various videos — that he is confused and frail,” The Times reported.
Biden’s mock debates have included his personal attorney, Bob Bauer, playing the role of Trump, the report said, while the team helping prepare him is being led by former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, and includes National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, current White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, White House counselor Steve Richetti, as well as campaign officials Anita Dunn, Mike Donilon, Ben LaBolt, Jen O’Malley Dillon, Cedric Richmond, Julie Chavez Rodriquez, Quentin Fulks, Michael Tyler and Rob Flaherty.
Former White House official Brian Deese is also expected to assist, according to the report.
Three sources familiar with the debate prep told NBC News that Biden advisors are studying the former president’s recent comments to see what topics might get under his skin most — all an effort to throw off what appears to be a more disciplined Trump as of late.
One source told the outlet the goal is to get “rally Trump” to come out, with another specifically pointing to Biden possibly attacking the former president’s 2020 election loss and subsequent actions that led to the Jan. 6 protest as a way to anger him by making him feel he’s being called a “loser.”
Those sources told NBC they believe attacking Trump’s post-2020 election actions could help boost Biden with independent voters who might be turned off by continued claims he actually won the election.
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During one of three of the 1976 presidential debates between former President Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, technical difficulties occurred resulting in complete silence for almost 30 minutes.
Of the 90 minutes provided for the presidential debate, 27 minutes of the ABC-aired event were in silence as the Republican and Democrat nominees stood on stage waiting for a fix to their audio.
As Carter was answering a question posed by an audience member, a member of ABC’s team came over the sound to relay the technical difficulties and said, “It is not a conspiracy against Governor Carter or President Ford and they will fix it as soon as possible.”
When audio was restored, Carter and Ford went on to discuss the future of America.
“Our nation in the last eight years has been divided,” Carter said. “It’s a time for unity. It’s a time to draw ourselves together, to have a president and a congress that can work together with mutual respect for a change.”
Ford followed Carter’s final remarks and said, “A president should never promise more than he can deliver. And a president should always deliver everything that he’s promised. A president can’t be all things to all people. A president should be the same thing to all people.”
Carter went on to defeat Ford in November.
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Since the first televised presidential debate between former President John F. Kennedy and former President Richard Nixon in 1960, there hasn’t always been a consistent flow of head-to-head matchups for Americans to watch every four years between White House hopefuls.
In fact, after the inaugural television debate in 1960, it would be 16 years and three presidential election cycles later before another would be held.
In 1964, then-President Lyndon Johnson refused to participate in a debate against then-Republican nominee and Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, citing his lead in the polls.
Four years later, in 1968, Nixon, still reeling from his not-so-stellar performance in the 1960 debate, refused to debate then-Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey.
Then, in 1972, Nixon continued that trend, refusing to debate Democratic candidate George McGovern, citing his lead in the polls.
However, since 1976, there have been debates held in every presidential election cycle.
In 2020, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump debated in front of a televised audience of 73.1 mllion viewers. It was the third most-watched debate in history, according to Statista.
Fox News’ Gabriele Regalbuto contributed to this report.
It’s the biggest question surrounding Thursday night’s CNN Presidential Debate, which is the first of two on-stage showdowns between President Biden and former President Trump in the 2024 election rematch.
Which version of the former president will show up at the primetime debate in Atlanta, the capital and largest city in the southeastern battleground of Georgia?
Will it be the undisciplined candidate who continuously interrupted Biden and debate moderator Chris Wallace dozens and dozens of times at their first debate in the 2020 election?
Trump appeared to lose his cool, failed to condemn White supremacists, and his performance was widely panned by political pundits and viewers alike.
The then-president reworked his strategy and his disciplined and measured performance in the second 2020 general election debate was a vast improvement. But it was too late, as Biden ended up winning the presidential election.
“If he replicates that performance, Donald Trump’s going to have a very good night,” longtime Republican consultant and veteran debate coach Brett O’Donnell told Fox News.
O’Donnell said his advice to Trump is “watch the second debate you had with Joe Biden in 2020 and replicate that performance. Watch it over and over and replicate that performance in this debate.”
“He was measured but firm,” O’Donnell said of Trump. “You can be aggressive and passionate without being offensive.”
As President Biden and former President Trump prepare to meet on the debate stage Thursday in Atlanta, voters across the country shared their top election priorities with Fox News Digital.
Two issues dominated: the economy and immigration.
“The economy’s crippling people,” said Vince from Maryland. “You go to a restaurant, you get something to eat, it used to be $40 for lunch. Now it’s $65, $70 just for lunch.”
A Tennessee woman worried about “all of the millions that have come across the border.”
“What are you going to do with them?” she asked. “Where are the jobs for them? Where’s the housing for them?”
Those concerns deviate slightly from the results of a nationwide Fox News Poll, conducted earlier this month. The future of American democracy topped the list with 68% of registered voters saying it will be extremely important in deciding which candidate they will support in November.
The economy trailed by two percentage points (66%), followed by stability and normalcy (58%). Further down the list was immigration with 52% saying it will be extremely important to them — tied with health care.
Yet voters all over the country, including in states like Oregon and New York that are far from the southern border, said immigration was a major concern for them.
“It’s a lot of favoritism going towards the immigrants for some reason,” Jason from Queens told Fox News Digital. “Us New Yorkers are keeping quiet about it, mostly, but I would love for [Trump and Biden] to talk about … how they’re going to move forward, because they’re doing a lot of crazy stuff. Beating up police. Harassing women. They’re doing a lot of crazy stuff.”
This is an excerpt from a Fox News Digital Originals story, continue reading here.
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Every four years, presidential debates draw millions of viewers across the United States. Americans settle in to watch Republican and Democratic nominees battle it out on a stage in front of the country in hopes of winning over the approval of voters come November.
Historically, the third most viewed presidential debate was between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump in 2020. The 90-minute debate accumulated 73.1 viewers, according to Statista.
Tonight, the incumbent president and GOP nominee, Trump, will face off once again during the CNN Presidential Debate — with special programming across all of FOX News Media’s key platforms, including FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Digital, FOX News Audio and FOX Nation.
The second most viewed presidential debate was in 1980 when Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter appeared on the debate stage in Cleveland, Ohio, at the Convention Center Music Hall opposite one another and 80.6 million Americans tuned in. Questions regarding foreign policy and national security issues, among others, were answered.
“I’ve had to make thousands of decisions since I’ve been President, serving in the Oval Office,” Carter said , according to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum website. “And with each one of those decisions that affect the future of my country, I have learned in the process. I think I’m a much wiser and more experienced man than I was when I debated 4 years ago against President Ford.”
In 2016, 84.4 million viewers watched as Trump and Hillary Clinton sparred in a presidential debate.
An audience member asked the two presidential nominees, “Would either of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another?”
Clinton replied, “I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don’t agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that.”
Trump said of Clinton, “I will say this about Hillary — she doesn’t quit. She doesn’t give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. She’s a fighter.”
Trump went on to win the election.
Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital
The first presidential debate of the 2024 cycle, pitting President Biden against former President Donald Trump in a 2020 rematch, is taking form.
The debate will be hosted by CNN on Thursday, June 27th at 9 pm EST in Atlanta, with CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash co-moderating the event.
The 90-minute debate will be streamed on Fox News through a CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast that will be available across all of FOX News Media’s key platforms, including FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Digital, FOX News Audio and FOX Nation.
Both party nominees have agreed to the rules of the debate. In contrast to the 2020 presidential debates, the mic of the candidate who is not up to speak will be muted while the other is talking. Additionally, there will not be a live audience at the debate and the candidates’ podiums and positions will be determined by a coin flip.
Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The CNN presidential debate will be held on Thursday in Atlanta, Georgia and the electoral dynamics of the city and the state itself differ significantly.
Georgia is a key swing state, having been Republican since the 90’s until 2020, where it narrowly went for President Biden. It is now a key target for both Biden and former President Trump and could be one of the states that decides the election.
Atlanta itself is significantly more Democratic, with the city and its counties, Fulton County and DeKalb leaning heavily Democratic. If Biden is to win the state and its 16 electoral votes, his path to victory will likely come via heavy turnout in this area.
Both sides have poured money into Georgia, and whoever wins the White House will want this key swing state to appear in their column on Election Day, given the closeness of the vote in 2020.
Reuters
When President Biden and former President Donald Trump square off for the CNN presidential debate, the location will play an important role.
The debate will take place in Atlanta, Georgia. This is in part because CNN’s headquarters are in Atlanta, making it the best fit for the news network to organize a debate that includes significant logistical challenges.
However, Georgia is also one of the top battleground states in the country. Typically a Republican-leaning state in presidential contests, Biden barely won the state in 2020, and it was a crucial victory for his path to 270 electoral votes.
Now, whoever takes the White House will want to seal up Georgia, and like in 2020 it could come down to a small number of voters.
Additionally, 2021 saw the control of the Senate shift to the Democrats through Georgia after Democratic candidates won two runoffs. However, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp won a second term in 2022, indicating the state is still up for grabs for both sides. Both presidential hopefuls have spent heavily in the state.
Left: Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Right: (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The CNN Presidential Debate is set to begin at 9:00 p.m. Thursday.
The debate is expected to last for 90 minutes.
President Biden and former President Trump will face off for the showdown and answer questions for voters on top issues from illegal immigration to the economy and beyond.
The two candidates will face off in Atlanta at a debate hosted by CNN — the first time they will meet face to face since their final debate ahead of the 2020 presidential election nearly four years ago.
Americans across the country can tune in to the Fox News Channel from 9:00 p.m. ET to 11:00 p.m. ET to watch the CNN Presidential Debate Simulcast. Viewers can also tune into Fox’s live coverage before and after the debate for expert analysis.
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Hillary Clinton, in a 2016 debate pledge to raise taxes on the wealthy, said, “My Social Security payroll contribution will go up, as will Donald’s, assuming he can’t figure out how to get out of it.” Donald Trump responded, “Such a nasty woman.”
During a 2012 debate, Mitt Romney said the U.S. Navy was the smallest it had been since 1917. Barack Obama responded, “We have fewer ships than we did in 1916. Well, Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed.”
During a presidential debate in 1992, when asked a question by an audience member, Bush Sr. memorably checked his watch before answering and seemed to stumble through a response.
In a 1988 debate, former Vice President Dan Quayle declared his experience was comparable to that of Jack Kennedy’s. Democrat Lloyd Bentsen responded to the Republican, “Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”
Moderator Bernard Shaw asked Michael Dukakis a graphic hypothetical in a 1988 debate: whether he would favor the death penalty if his wife were raped and murdered. Dukakis answered, “No, I don’t, Bernard, and I think you know that I’ve opposed the death penalty during all of my life.”
The Bush-Quayle ticket won the presidency and the latter served as VP to Bush Sr. from 1989 to 1993.
In 1984, during a debate Reagan said, “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience,” of former VP to Jimmy Carter, Walter Mondale. Reagan’s blunt remark earned him cheer and laughter from both the crowd and Mondale.
In 1980, during a primary election debate, Ronald Reagan said to moderator and executive editor of The Telegraph of Nashua, Jon Breen, “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green” when Breen asked for Reagan’s microphone to be turned off.
During a 1960 presidential debate between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy , Nixon appeared shifty and was excessively sweating while JFK remained calm. Whether Nixon lost the election to JFK due to his body language is still probed today.
James Breeden for New York Post / Mega
President Biden and former President Trump are expected to take the stage Thursday night for the CNN Presidential Debate in Atlanta, Ga., and will discuss the top issues that will help voters make their decisions at the ballot box.
Biden and Trump are expected to answer questions on the economy; national security; border security; the Israel-Hamas war; the United States’ standing on the world stage; leadership styles and more.
Trump is expected to criticize Biden’s policies and highlight his record during the Trump administration, specifically related to the southern border and the economy.
Biden is expected to slam Trump and say the country is in a better place than it was under the former president’s leadership.
Biden is likely to highlight his stance on abortion and stress he will protect women’s rights, versus Trump’s pro-life stance. Trump has said he supports the Supreme Court’s ruling that returns the issue of abortion to the states.
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Debates date all the way back to 1858, though the first was not between two presidential candidates. Former President Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas went head to head in a series of debates for Senate seats, according to the National Park Service.
During the election cycle, the opponents formally and politically sparred in seven debates in Illinois. The first candidate spoke for 60 minutes. Then, the opposing candidate spoke for 90 minutes. Finally, the first candidate would speak again, and rebuttal, for 30 minutes to conclude the debate.
Douglas kicked off the debates in four of the seven arguments.
The first televised presidential debate in American history between candidates wasn’t until September 26, 1960 and included Democratic candidate, John F. Kennedy and Republican opponent, Richard Nixon.
The presidential debate aired on CBS was viewed by audiences in black and white. During the debate, Kennedy said, “I don’t believe in big government, but I believe in effective governmental action” and issues including the Cold War, education, health care and the economy, among other topics, were addressed by both candidates.
However, in 1956, former Governor of Illinois Adlai Stevenson challenged past U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower to a debate. Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and American politician, Margaret Chase Smith stood in for the men and debated political issues, according to the United States Senate website.
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Participation in presidential debates is not mandatory for candidates. However, it is strategic for candidates to engage, introduce themselves to and appear in front of the American people.
Candidates who are not polling well secure more attention on a big stage. The prime-time showdown between candidates is an opportunity to discuss and argue for or against topics and issues concerning U.S. voters.
Presidential candidates, both Republican and Democrat, leverage debate stages to define themselves, raise campaign funds and express stances on political, economic and social issues.
Though debates may be inconsequential for some American voters, they can certainly be influential for others. To gain the support of American voters, candidates use political advertisements, appearances in swing states and rallies as alternative stops along the campaign trail.
Maneuvers like these, combined with debates, influence the final names on a presidential ticket.
Former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden will be addressed by moderators during the CNN Presidential Debate for the first time in the 2024 election cycle.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images
The first presidential debate of the 2024 cycle will take place on Thursday evening and will allow former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden to ramp up their efforts to win over American voters.
Thursday night’s CNN Presidential Debate — with special programming available across all of FOX News Media’s key platforms, including FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Digital, FOX News Audio and FOX Nation — will give the candidates an opportunity to lay out their case to voters.
It will also allow the nominees to go head-to-head with one another, challenging other’s positions and records and contrasting them with their own. Topics including immigration and border security, among others, are expected Thursday night.
Trump has yet to reveal his running mate for the 2024 presidential election, though he told Fox News’ Alexis McAdams that he will be announcing it right around the time of the RNC, which is scheduled for Monday, July 15, in Milwaukee.
“They’ll be there,” the former president said of his running mate ahead of the CNN Presidential Debate. “I think we have a lot of people coming.” Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
Photo by James Devaney/GC Images | Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
Candidates of a presidential debate do not receive questions ahead of time. While current events are surely expected as discussion topics, the precise questions are kept completely secret from candidates.
There has been speculation at times that some presidential candidates have caught wind of questions prior to the start of a debate, but debate moderators, hosting news organizations and politicians have denied it in every case.
So, how does a candidate prepare to answer unknown questions?
Abortion, immigration, border security , the wars between Israel and Hamas and Russia and Ukraine, inflation and student loans, among other topics, are issues Americans are prioritizing under the nose of the 2024 presidential race.
Viewers should expect some, if not all, of these issues to rear their heads during the CNN Presidential Debate.
Because these political issues are quintessential, the candidates will likely warm up responses during mock debates. The way a candidate chooses to answer a question is solely up to them, though.
Qualifiers may aim for vague replies to CNN moderators for questions they prefer to evade.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Thursday’s CNN Presidential Debate is a critical event for Americans to see how each of the top candidates for president think on their feet about real challenges facing the country.
It’s also the first time since September 2020 that President Biden and former President Trump are going to be face-to-face after they participated in only one White House debate in the previous election cycle.
The face-off is not likely to sway undecided voters — this election cycle is unique in that voters know what it’s like to live in both Biden and Trump’s America.
But in a race where voter turnout will be critical, particularly in several key swing states, a winning performance in the debate could sway otherwise unenthusiastic viewers to go to the ballot box in November. Conversely, a poor performance could also motivate voters to mobilize for the alternative.
Americans will also be watching both Trump, 78, and Biden, 81, for any overt signs of aging after concerns were raised about both men being up to the grueling task of leading the free world at an advanced age.
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On Thursday, June 27, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off in the first debate of 2024 and their first rematch since the 2020 election. Hosted by CNN, the debate will air on the network as well as on their relevant streaming outlets and website. USA Today will air the debate on their Youtube channel and ABC will air the debate on their network.
Fox News will simulcast the debate from 9-11 EST. Jesse Waters will kick off the CNN Presidential Debate’s preview coverage at 7:00 PM with chief political anchor Bret Baier, and anchor Martha MacCallum will take the reins at 8:00 pm EST. Immediately after the debate, Sean Hannity will host live from the spin room in Atlanta to analyze the event coverage and gauge the public’s reaction to the debate. From 8:30 on, Foxnews.com will livestream coverage of the debate from the Fox Network simulcast.
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