President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face each other in the first presidential debate for the 2024 elections next Thursday.
The June 27 debate will be held at 9 pm ET on CNN, with anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating the debate. Will it be the first televised presidential debate in United States history, with the political rivals scheduled to return to the debate stage on September 10th, in a fight organized by ABC.
In light of the upcoming debate, TIME answered your questions about the presidential debates — from when they started to who is eligible to participate.
When was the first presidential debate?
Although many people consider the first televised debate to be the one between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960, historians argue that the first televised presidential debate actually took place four years earlier – although it featured substitutes for the candidates.
Democratic candidate and former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson and Republican President Dwight Eisenhower did not appear in the November 4, 1956, debate. Instead, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt represented the Democrats, while U.S. Senator Maine Margaret Chase Smith represented the Republicans.
The debate was broadcast on CBS in Face the nation (it was the first time that a woman appeared on that program, according to US Senate website). The debate took place just two days before the elections, and the main topic of the debate was foreign policy.
See more information: These are the rules of the CNN presidential debate
Who organizes the presidential debates?
In 1987, the Commission on Presidential Debates was formed as a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation to “organize, administer, produce, publicize, and support debates for candidates for President of the United States.”
The commission neither endorses nor opposes political candidates or parties and has sponsored general election presidential debates in every election since 1988. Prior to that, the commission League of Women Voters hosted the 1976, 1980 and 1984 presidential debates.
This year, however, CNN and ABC are directly hosting the debates, after Biden said he would not participate in the commission-sponsored presidential debates, according to the Associated Press. The Biden campaign chairman sent a letter to the commission last month objecting to the proposed fall debate dates as they would occur after some Americans begin voting in the election, as well as expressing frustration with the commission’s decision to hold debates before a live event. public. Previously, the Republican National Committee had promised not to work with the commission.
Are presidential debates required by law?
Although the Commission on Presidential Debates’ main objective is to ensure that general election debates are held every four years between the major presidential and vice-presidential candidates, the debates are not mandatory. After the Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960, there were no debates in 1964, 1968 and 1972, according to the commission.
How many presidential debates were there in 2020?
Biden and Trump’s first fight for the presidency saw both presidential candidates participate in two debates in 2020. The first debate between the two took place in September 29, 2020, and was marked by its antagonistic tone, as Trump and Biden repeatedly spoke over each other and attacked each other’s character. Initially, Trump and Biden were expected to participate in a second debate on October 15, 2020but the debate was canceled after Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 and refused to hold a virtual debate. The two candidates took to the debate for the second time on October 22, 2020 – which would have been the third debate.
What does it take to qualify for a presidential debate?
To qualify for the first presidential debate of this election cycle, candidates must meet the following requirements announced by the CNN:
- Be constitutionally eligible to hold the presidential office
- File a formal statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission
- Have your name appear on enough state ballots to meet the 270 electoral vote threshold to win the presidency
- Agree to accept the rules and format of the debate
- Receive at least 15% in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s reporting standards, such as those sponsored by CNN, ABC News, CBS News and Fox News, among others
How many Americans watch the presidential debates?
The US presidential debates are some of the most watched television events in the country, besides the Super Bowl. In 2020, more than 73 million people watched at least part of the first Trump-Biden debate, according to Nielsen Media Researchmaking it the third largest debate audience of all time.
The most watched event was the first debate between Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016, which reached 84 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 1980 debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan was the second most watched debate, with 80.6 million viewers.
Presidential debate ratings have fluctuated over the years, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. All four 1960 debates had ratings of around 60.0– this means that about six in 10 households with a television were tuned in to the debates. But in 1976, when the debates continued, their ratings were lower and continued to trend downward in the following decades. After the third debate between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000, however, debate ratings trended mostly upward – the first Trump-Biden debate in 2020 had a rating of 40.2.
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