The dates and venues have been announced for the 2020 Presidential debates between President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden, the 2020 Democratic Presidential nominee.
The date for the Vice Presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee, has been scheduled to take place on Oct. 7, 2020. Note the broadcast times and channels are identical for the Presidential debates and the Vice Presidential debate.
Tickets – Tickets for each debate are controlled by the hosting university and are extremely limited since the debates are primarily produced for television. The majority of tickets are distributed to host university students and faculty through a lottery system. See this page for all available ticketing details.
Live Streaming – All the major news networks will offer a free live stream as will YouTube and Twitter.
TV Channels – Each debate will be broadcast live on C-SPAN, ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, as well as all cable news channels including CNN, Fox News, Fox Business Network, and MSNBC among others.
Start Time – The debates will air from 9 pm to 10:30 pm ET (8 pm – 9:30 pm CT, 7 pm – 8:30 pm MT, 6 pm – 7:30 pm PT)
2020 Presidential Debates
First Presidential Debate
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
9 pm to 10:30 pm ET
Full Video: Watch Full Debate Video
Moderator: Chris Wallace (Fox News)
President Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
Vice Presidential Debate
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Full Video: Watch the Full VP Debate
Moderator: Susan Page (USA Today)
Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris
The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Final Presidential Debate
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Full Video: Watch Debate Video
Moderator: Kristen Welker (NBC News)
President Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden
Belmont University, Nashville, TN
Debate Format
First presidential debate
The first Trump-Biden debate will be divided into six segments of approximately 15 minutes each on major topics to be selected by the moderator and announced at least one week before the debate. The moderator, Chris Wallace, will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The remaining time will be used for further discussion fostered by the moderator.
Vice presidential debate
The Vice Presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris will be divided into nine segments of approximately 10 minutes each. The moderator, Susan Page, will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The remaining time will be used for further discussion fostered by the moderator.
Second presidential debate
The second presidential debate originally scheduled for Oct. 15 was canceled.
Third presidential debate
The third Trump-Biden debate will be an identical format to the first debate with moderator Kristen Welker facilitating the discussion and asking the questions.
Note: The First Presidential debate was originally scheduled to take place at the University Notre Dame but the venue was changed due to concerns over Coronavirus.
Note: The Second Presidential debate was originally scheduled to take place at the University of Michigan but the venue was changed due to concerns over Coronavirus.