Presidential debate live updates: the Biden-Trump faceoff is over, but the wider debate is just beginning
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Trump and Biden faced off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election with new rules, high stakes and no live audience. The candidates traded insults, went down tangents and argued about golf.
Both candidates had shaky moments — Trump repeatedly dodged committing to accepting the election results, while Biden’s raspy voice and sometimes rambling answers likely did little to assuage critics’ concerns about his age.
- Immigration, the economy and foreign policy dominated the 90-minute debate. Other key topics, like abortion, young voters and climate change, got much less airtime.
- Interruptions were relatively few, thanks to the new rules around muting candidates’ mics. But moderators did little to fact check or follow up on what was said.
- The insults got personal: Each candidate called the other the worst president in history. Trump insulted Biden’s cognitive abilities and golf game, while Biden went after his weight and appearance.
- Trump’s campaign immediately declared victory, while the Biden campaign focused on substance over style. Biden himself gave a more upbeat report at a campaign event right after the debate.
- The first debate may be over, but the political calendar is still chock-full for the summer.
The live blog is closing down, but NPR's coverage will continue bright and early
This live blog is wrapping up, but we'll have plenty more post-debate coverage and analysis for you early birds in the hours ahead — from a new overnight episode of the NPR Politics Podcast to Morning Edition to takeaways on NPR.org
Thanks for sticking with us, and see you back here soon!
NPR Special Coverage: Abortion a miss for both candidates
The issue of abortion was expected to be a big win of the night for President Biden, but neither candidate made cohesive arguments about their policy stances. NPR’s Steve Inskeep said that this portion of the debate was hard to follow, as each candidate failed to push forward their views in an appropriate manner.
NPR’s Elissa Nadworny said that Biden looked "uncomfortable” when talking about abortion, mentioning his stumbles when Trump asked him about his stance on late-term abortions. Nadworny attributed this fault to the fact that the issue has been more closely tied to Vice President Kamala Harris during his presidency, who has frequently spoken on the issue in recent months.
NPR’s Deepa Shivaram also noted that Biden did not mention Trump's relation to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. Trump has campaigned on the Dobbs decision during this election cycle and takes credit for appointing three conservative-leaning justices to the court.
On the other hand, Trump repeated false claims about abortion and seemed hesitant to tie himself to the current Supreme Court.
Trump claimed that doctors have adopted the widespread practice of executing babies born alive after a failed abortion, but Nadworny said that it has only happened 143 times in 12 years, according to CDC data.
NPR Special Coverage: One of Biden's biggest vulnerabilities on full display — his age
While Biden seemed to gain more energy throughout the course of the debate, one of Biden's biggest weaknesses with voters — his age — did not do him any favors tonight.
"He wasn't able to parry the attacks from former President Trump in the way that he would want to, wasn't able to deliver the attacks back on him to be able to pivot," NPR's Domenico Montanaro told host Steve Inskeep.
"There have to be a lot of Democrats wondering what it would be like to have a different candidate on that stage," Montanaro said.
White House correspondent Deepa Shivaram added that Biden's performance tonight stood in stark contrast to his State of the Union delivery.
"That's not really the Biden we saw tonight," Shivaram said.
Shivaram noted Biden was slower to respond to Trump and missed key opportunities to go on the offensive.
"He didn't really have the bandwidth to respond on the issues that he really needed to hammer home," she added, including on abortion, the economy, and democracy.
Biden gives supporters an upbeat recap after the debate
Immediately after the debate, Biden made a stop at a nearby hotel ballroom where a few hundred supporters had watched his performance.
Entering the room to chants of “four more years,” Biden — more energetic than he had been on the debate stage — gave brief remarks.
"Look, folks: what's going to happen over the next couple of days is they're going to be out there fact-checking all the things he said. I can't think of one thing he said that was true," he said, referring to Trump.
"We're going to beat this guy. We need to beat this guy," he said.
Biden campaign focuses on substance of debate, sidestepping the performance problems
After the debate, the Biden campaign didn't send out a statement instantly declaring victory, as Trump's did.
Given Biden’s cold-weakened voice, stumbles and at-times halting answers, the Biden campaign emphasized substance rather than style.
The campaign pointed to the fact that Trump refused to say he would accept the election results if he loses, his January 6th denialism and his promise of retribution for his political enemies.
“Trump’s performance tonight reminded the American people why they fired him four years ago, and reinforced just how high the stakes are this November for the future of our country,” said top campaign adviser Jen O’Malley Dillon.
But none of that stopped a full-fledged freak-out from Democrats who had been hoping to see a better performance from the president.
Speaking on CNN, Kate Bedingfield, a long-time Biden aide now working for the network, described Biden’s debate performance as “disappointing.”
“His biggest issue was to prove to the American people that he had the energy, the stamina — and he didn’t do that,” said Bedingfield.
But another Biden campaign official posted that despite it all, the president was having a record fundraising day.
Twitter: Doing twitter stuff.
— Rob Flaherty (@Rob_Flaherty) June 28, 2024
Biden supporters: Doing the work, powering us to our best grassroots fundraising day of the cycle by far.
Missing from the debate? A mention of young voters
President Biden has been struggling in the polls with younger voters — a key group that overwhelmingly backed him four years ago and one he is counting on again this year.
The president did not directly address young voters during the debate. However, he did mention his newly unveiled Climate Corps jobs and training program — which plans to offer thousands of climate and conservation jobs for young Americans.
Former President Donald Trump also did not address young Americans — but his campaign is not relying on massive youth support in the same way, given that younger voters typically vote for Democrats.
Trump's campaign is already declaring victory
Moments after the debate wrapped, the Trump campaign sent an email to supporters touting his "historic debate victory."
Co-campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said Trump delivered "the greatest debate performance and victory in history to the largest voter audience in history, making clear exactly how he will improve the lives of every American."
In contrast, they said, Biden "showed exactly why he deserves to be fired."
"Despite taking a week-long vacation at Camp David to prepare for the debate, Biden was unable to defend his disastrous record on the economy and the border," they added, accusing him of lying, inventing stories and not articulating "a single plan to make things less expensive and keep our people safe."
The debate had shaky moments for both candidates. Trump made outsized claims and again refused to commit to accepting the election results regardless of the winner, while Biden's visible stumbles likely did little to assuage critics' concerns about his age and mental fitness.
There's a lot on the political calendar before the next debate. See key dates here
Trump will likely announce his pick for vice president in the coming weeks. There will also be a vice presidential debate this summer. The date has not been finalized, but Vice President Harris agreed to one held either July 23 or Aug. 13.
On the legal front, Trump will appear for sentencing in his criminal trial on July 11, just days before the Republican National Convention, which begins on July 15 in Milwaukee. A month later, the Democratic National Convention will kick off on Aug. 19 in Chicago.
Trump and Biden will debate a second time on Sept. 10.
Fact check on addiction and the opioid crisis
CNN's Jake Tapper asked both candidates about the addiction and overdose crisis that worsened under the Trump and Biden administrations. More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are dying every year of drug overdoses.
“We were doing very well on addiction until the COVID came along,” Trump said during the debate. “We had two and a half, almost three years of like nobody’s ever had before any country in every way.”
In fact, drug deaths rose during the first two years of Trump’s term, declined slightly and then surged again during COVID.
The increase in fatal overdoses accelerated sharply during Biden’s first term. Public health experts blame the rise on the pandemic and on the spread of street fentanyl.
Biden answered the question by arguing that a bipartisan border deal opposed by Trump would have paid for better security and new high-tech surveillance equipment designed to detect smuggled fentanyl.
“I want to make sure we use the machinery that can detect fentanyl,” Biden said. “We need those machines.”
Critics have been skeptical of Biden’s border plan, saying it’s unlikely that it would significantly slow fentanyl trafficking into the U.S.
Debate moderators let whoppers and insults fly
At the start of the debate, CNN's Jake Tapper described how he and co-moderator Dana Bash would be approaching their roles: “Our job is to facilitate a debate between the two candidates tonight,” he said.
Throughout the debate, Bash and Tapper mainly opted not to follow up or fact-check, sticking to the allotted times and often moving on to another topic. Biden struggled with this format, while Trump often filled his speaking time with wide-ranging comments and accusations that were unrelated to the question he had been asked.
Whoppers and insults were often followed with a pause of the mics being cut and a “thank you, next question.”
Finally, 90 minutes into the debate, Bash followed up three times when Trump failed to answer a question about whether he would accept the results of the election in November, something he refused to do four years ago. Trump never did fully commit to accepting the 2024 election results.
Heading into the debate, CNN political director David Chalian told AP that fact-checking wasn’t the role of the moderators.
“They are not here to participate in this debate,” Chalian said. “They are here to facilitate a debate between Trump and Biden.”
The debate is done, but NPR's coverage is not
The debate is over, after much anticipation and 90 minutes of back and forth.
But our coverage is still going strong. Tune into NPR — online, on your local station or on the NPR app — for analysis from our political reporters until 11 p.m. ET. Click here to listen.
Trump says he'd be enjoying himself if Biden 'was a great president'
Towards the end of the debate, Trump suggested multiple times that he didn't necessarily want to be onstage — or in the presidential race at all.
Instead of answering the first (of three) questions about whether he would accept the election results regardless of the winner, Trump at one point returned to the topic of Biden.
"I'll tell you something, I wish he was a great president, because I wouldn't be here right now," he said. "I'd be at one of my many places, enjoying myself. I wouldn't be under indictment because I wouldn't have been his political ... opponent, because he indicted me, because I was his opponent."
He continued along those lines, adding at one point, "I would rather have that I wouldn't be here. I don't mind being here. The only reason I'm here is he's so bad at president."
Several minutes later, Trump — still dodging the election question — doubled down on that point.
"I wasn't really going to run until I saw the horrible job he did. He's destroying our country," he said. "I would be very happy to be someplace else, in a nice location."
Debate briefly derailed by golf as candidates spar over age
Age is one of the biggest issues in this campaign, with the oldest-ever president (Biden, 81) squaring off against the second-oldest (Trump, 78.)
Asked about his age, Trump bragged that he passed two cognitive tests and had recently won golf tournaments.
"To do that, you have to be quite smart, and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way," he said. Trump claimed that Biden "can't hit a ball 50 yards."
Biden quickly replied, "Take a look at what he is," a dig at Trump's weight and appearance.
Biden said he'd be willing to play golf against Trump, and bragged about the impressive golf handicap he had when he was vice president.
"I'd be happy to have a driving contest with him," Biden said.
Trump avoids committing to accepting the election results
Addressing one of voters' primary concerns about Trump, Bash asked him to pledge tonight "that once all legal challenges have been exhausted, that you will accept the results of this election, regardless of who wins, and you will say right now that political violence in any form is unacceptable?"
Trump didn't exactly do so.
"Well, I shouldn't have to say that," he said. "But of course, I believe that it's totally unacceptable. And if you would see my statements that I made on Twitter at the time, and also my statement that I made in the Rose Garden, you would say it's one of the strongest statements you've ever seen, in addition to the speech I made in front of, I believe, the largest crowd I've ever spoken to."
Trump then went on a tangent about Jan. 6 and foreign policy, before Bash returned with a follow up: Would he accept the election results regardless of the winner?
"Just to finish what I said, If I might, Russia, they took a lot of land from Bush," Trump answered. "They took a lot of land from Obama and Biden. They took no land, nothing from Trump, nothing."
Bash tried a third time: "The question was, will you accept the results of the election, regardless of who wins? Yes or No."
Trump answered with remarks similar to those he made on the debate stage in 2020 — before he was charged with working to overturn the election results and trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
"If it's a fair and legal and good election, absolutely," he said. "I would have much rather accepted these, but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous, and if you want, we'll have a news conference on it in a week, or we'll have another one of these on in a week. But I will absolutely, there's nothing I'd rather do."
What will the candidates do to slow the climate crisis?
Neither candidate had direct answers to how they plan to slow the climate crisis in their second terms.
Trump boasted having the “best environmental numbers ever,” after at first avoiding the question. But Trump has a history of casting doubt on the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change.
“I want absolutely immaculate clean water, and I want absolutely clean air. And we had it,” Trump said. Still, Trump has campaigned on the promise to “drill, baby, drill” and ending various energy efficiency and rescinding foreign and domestic climate policies.
Biden used the question to boast about passing the “most extensive climate change legislation in history,” referencing the Inflation Reduction Act — which Trump and various Republicans have vowed to repeal — and criticizing Trump for pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Accord, a decision Trump still stands by.
Biden directly addresses concerns about his age
When asked about voters' concerns about his age, Biden — who would be 86 at the end of his second term — said he spent half his career as the "youngest person in politics."
Biden was 29 when he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1972, making him the seventh-youngest person ever elected to be senator. "Now I'm the oldest," Biden said.
"This guy's three years younger and a lot less competent," Biden added.
One more commercial break and then it's almost over
We're now in the final commercial break, with minutes left in the debate.
Trump denies his Charlottesville, Va., comments
About 40 minutes into the debate, Biden reiterated that he decided to run for president in 2020 in part because of former Trump’s response to the deadly violence at the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.
Trump said at the time that there were “very fine people on both sides,” and Biden has likened that comment to Trump siding with white supremacists.
"What American president would ever say, Nazis coming out of fields, carrying torches, singing the same antisemitic bile, carrying swastikas, are fine people?" Biden said during the debate.
Trump, in response, argued that Biden "made up the Charlottesville story.”
Though Trump did not link the “fine people” to white supremacists, he did, in fact, say the statement.
Below is a quote from Trump’s press conference after the rally and subsequent violence between demonstrators and counter-protesters.
TRUMP: You had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. You had people in that group, excuse me, excuse me, I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park, from Robert E. Lee to another name.
Trump attacks Biden for not 'draining the swamp'
Trump claimed that Biden has not fired “enough” people as president, bragging about his own layered history of firing senior officials while as president.
Trump is notorious for runningon the catchphrase of “draining the swamp” in 2016, which refers to the idea that Washington is inherently corrupt. Trump fired many officials during his time as president, such as terminating former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and former Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, who served on the National Security Council.
Trump also said that Biden “hasn’t fired anybody,” which is false. Biden fired former Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton after bipartisan criticism that Blanton wasted taxpayer money, among other complaints.
Who are you calling the worst president in history?
Each candidate has now called the other "the worst president in history."
Trump has made the claim twice, both in the context of Biden's stance on immigration. Biden fired back later, saying "159 presidential scholars voted him the worst president in the history of United States of America."
He was mostly right, off by just a few numbers: As NPR reported back in February, 154 historians and presidential experts ranked Trump dead last of all U.S. presidents.
The 2024 edition of the Presidential Greatness Project Expert Survey has Biden in 14th place, just ahead of Woodrow Wilson and Ronald Reagan. Trump comes in 45th, behind fellow impeachee Andrew Johnson and James Buchanan, the perennial cellar-dweller in such ratings due to his pre-Civil War leadership.
Biden doubled down later, though he said "don't hold me to the exact number."
"They've had meetings, and they voted who was the worst president in American history," he added. "They said he was the worst in all of American history. That's a fact. That's not conjecture."
Trump shot back that "we have other things that they rate him the worst, because what he's done is so bad." Despite his muted mic, Biden can be seen — and heard slightly on Trump's mic — saying "show me."
Trump continued on that he was actually rated "one of the best," and said "if I'm given another four years, I will be the best."
Trump namedrops one VP contender: Tim Scott
While the moderators asked Trump what he would do about climate change, Trump pivoted back to the topic of Black voters and criminal justice to respond to Biden's answer on Black Americans.
In answering the question, Trump commended South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott for implementing opportunity zones in the state as an economic development initiative.
"Tim Scott was incredible. He did a great job. Great senator from South Carolina," Trump said of Scott.
Scott ran for the 2024 Republican nomination before dropping out in January. In recent weeks, he was one of eight people Trump requested financial documents from as he decides who his running mate will be. Scott has ardently supported Trump in his bid for the presidency and made numerous TV appearances to defend Trump's record.
Trump's criminal conviction and alleged affair
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts — but he still says he did nothing wrong.
In May, Trump became the first former or sitting president to both be tried on criminal charges and to be found guilty. A 12-person New York jury convicted Trump of 34 counts of falsified business records.
Still, Trump has long argued without evidence that the trial, the prosecution and the verdict was politically motivated against him.
“We have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong,” Trump said during the CNN presidential debate.
In a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the Justice Department said it found no emails about the Trump probe between Justice Department leadership and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office who prosecuted him. The letter underscored that the District Attorney’s office is a separate entity from the DOJ.
Biden argued that Trump has also received multiple civil penalties — citing other New York trials Trump has been found liable in. These included when Trump was found liable of sexually assaulting columnist E. Jean Carroll. Biden also accused Trump of having the “morals of an alley cat” for allegedly having an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Trump denied the alleged affair, which was at the center of the criminal conviction. The falsified business records were the invoices, ledgers and checks used to pay his former lawyer Michael Cohen for originally paying Daniels to keep quiet about the alleged affair as Trump ran for president in 2016.
Here's what recent polling shows about Black voters' preferences
When asked about the climate crisis, Trump swiftly pivoted to other topics: police, criminal justice and Black voter support.
He said he has "the best numbers with them in maybe ever," based on his work in criminal justice and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. And he said the opposite of Biden: "He's lost much of the Black population because he's done a horrible job for Black people."
Black voters were critical to Biden's win in 2020. He has intensified his push to court them in recent months, with signs that support from people of color may be dropping this time around.
A Pew Research Center survey released last month shows early signs of where Black voters stand:
Black voters remain largely aligned with the Democratic Party (83% identify with or lean to the Democrats), and 77% of Black registered voters say they would prefer to vote for Biden over Trump in 2024.
Black voters are simultaneously critical of Trump, with 72% believing he was a poor or terrible president.
Even so, 49% of Black voters ay they would replace both Biden and Trump with different candidates if they had the ability to decide, which Pew notes is similar to the share of all voters who say this.
No, the Southwest border is not open
Trump has accused Biden of opening the U.S. borders to unauthorized migrants.
“He decided to open up our border, open up our country,” Trump said tonight.
While it is true that under President Biden unauthorized crossings hit an all-time high and, at times, the number of migrants overwhelmed certain border communities, the border is not open.
In fact, the border is arguably more reinforced than ever.
The federal government has added more sections of the U.S. Southern border walls, and there have been more military operations at the border. Biden has also severely restricted asylum claims between ports of entry, blocking most unauthorized migrants from attaining asylum.
The administration has also increased the number of expedited removals.
Biden has tried to work with Congress to overhaul the immigration system, but a majority of Republican lawmakers have not advanced the proposals.
And now back to the action
The first of two commercial breaks has ended. Over the next 30+ minutes we're expecting more questions, answers and closing statements.
It's time for a commercial break
We're now in a commercial break, the first of two planned for the evening. It's not clear when the next one will be, but the debate is slated to end at 10:30 p.m. EST.
Some of the topics covered so far include the economy, immigration, abortion and democracy. Stay tuned for more.
Biden asks Trump to disavow the Proud Boys, again
While talking about democracy and Jan. 6, Biden asked Trump point blank to denounce the Proud Boys — in a flashback to their first presidential debate in 2020.
At that debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked whether Trump would denounce white supremacists, and Trump asked for a name. Both Wallace and Biden suggested the Proud Boys.
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by,” Trump said, in what sounded more like a call to action, and quickly became part of the far-right extremist group’s new social media logo.
Biden recalled that moment onstage tonight, as Trump visibly rolled his eyes. Then Biden addressed him directly.
"Will you denounce these guys?" he asked, a few times.
Trump seemed momentarily at a loss for words. The moderators jumped in to change the subject, asking Trump instead about comments he made recently about going after his political opponents.
Trump falsely accuses Biden of orchestrating his prosecutions
Asked about Trump supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump accused Biden of weaponizing the government to persecute a political opponent.
Trump and his supporters have repeatedly accused Biden of orchestrating his prosecutions.
That includes the false claim that the president was behind Trump’s historic conviction in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. That case was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is an official of New York state, not the federal government.
Biden and Trump spar over 'suckers and losers' comment
Biden used a recent trip he made to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France to call Trump a loser.
More than 2,200 Marines who died in the World War I battle at Bellau Wood in France are buried at Aisne-Marne. Trump was supposed to visit the cemetery in 2018, but bailed on the stop when rain prevented him from taking Marine One.
The White House at the time explained that it would have taken too long to motorcade. But it was later reported in the Atlantic and confirmed on the record by Trump’s then chief of staff that he didn’t want to go and described the war dead as “suckers” and “losers.”
Biden recounted this, landing the line: “You're the sucker. You're the loser.” Loser is an insult Biden has increasingly hurled at Trump. Trump said it was a “made up quote” published in a “third rate magazine that’s failing.”
Trump says he'll end the Russia-Ukraine war before he even takes office
Trump, like many Republicans, expressed discontent with how much money the U.S. is spending to support Ukraine defending itself against Russia.
Then he went a step further, saying he would be able to end the war himself.
"I will have that war settled between Putin and Zelenskyy as president-elect before I take office on January 20," Trump said. "I'll have that war settled. People being killed so needlessly, so stupidly, and I will get it settled. And I'll get it settled fast before I take office."
Trump has said before that he would end the conflict, but has not elaborated because, as he's put it, he doesn't want to reveal his hand before negotiations.
Trump blames Biden for enabling foreign wars, which Biden calls 'malarkey'
Trump blamed Biden for the wars in Europe and the Middle East, saying the U.S.' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 encouraged Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Russia.
Thirteen U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians were killed in the withdrawal, widely considered a low point in Biden's presidency. It was planned and announced by Trump before he left office, and the Biden administration officially blames the "conditions created by [Biden's] predecessor" for how it went.
Trump continued laying into Biden, at one point saying "the whole world is blowing up under him."
"The difference is he never would have invaded Ukraine, never, just like Israel would have never been invaded in a million years by Hamas," Trump said.
Biden, in response, said "I've never heard so much malarkey in my whole life."
Unauthorized crossings hit all-time high under Biden tenure. The numbers have also gone down
Immigration has been a big point of debate tonight for Trump and Biden.
Under President Biden’s tenure, unauthorized crossing hit a record-high. But over the last few months, Biden has implemented a handful of policies aimed at reducing the number of crossings, and asylum claims, at the Southern border.
One June 4, Biden severely restricted asylum, making it really difficult for migrants to successfully claim fear of persecution if turned back to their home countries.
The Biden administration has said that since the policy went into effect, there has been a 40% decrease in unauthorized crossings. But that’s not surprising — historically, these policies deter migrants for a short period of time. Eventually the numbers tend to go up.
Why Biden's voice is so raspy
President Biden’s voice is noticeably hoarse in tonight’s debate — the result of a cold, according to a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
But a raspy voice is something that has vexed Biden throughout his presidency, particularly at the beginning of remarks, when he often has to clear his throat multiple times.
During his first year in office, Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor did an extensive work-up of what he described as the “increasing frequency and severity of ‘throat clearing’ and coughing during speaking engagements.”
He concluded, in consultation with multiple specialists, that the throat clearing was caused by gastrointestinal reflux.
Trump accuses Biden of opening the Southern border to migrants who commit crimes. Data shows otherwise
Throughout his reelection campaign, Trump has said that Biden has allowed criminals to come into the U.S. without authorization.
“They are killing our citizens at a level that we’ve never seen before,” Trump said tonight.
Republicans have been saying the same, particularly after two Venezuelan immigrants were charged with capital murder for killing a 12-year-old girl.
But data from Northwestern University shows immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S. born people.
The muted mics were a big question heading into the debate. They seem to be working
We're more than 30 minutes into the debate, and both Trump and Biden's mics were muted at least once. Both have visibly talked over their allotted without being heard by the viewing public.
How immigration helps grow the economy
Increased immigration – both legal and illegal – has helped to grow the labor force in recent years, allowing employers to keep adding jobs at a rapid clip without putting too much upward pressure on prices.
Over the last 12 months, for example, the foreign-born workforce has grown by 740,000 while the native-born workforce added just 134,000 people.
Trump jumps from topic to topic in answering question about the economy
Trump delivered an assortment of statements on several issues to the singular question, "Why does Trump believe top earners and corporations should pay even less in taxes than they do now?"
In answering the original question, Trump stated that tax cuts he implemented boosted the economy. But then he pivoted, stating that Biden implemented a COVID-19 vaccine mandate that was highly unpopular. He also alleged that Biden was bringing "illegal immigrants" into the country and that Biden has been weaponizing the electoral process to his own political benefit.
Medication abortions more than half of all abortions in U.S.
Medication abortions make up more than half of all abortions in the U.S. Telehealth, where people can get abortion pills by mail, is a big factor in the fact that the number of abortions in the US has gone up nationwide, despite many state bans.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court tossed out a challenge to the FDA’s rules for prescribing and dispensing abortion pills.
But lawyers who brought that case say they're working on strategies to bring additional legal challenges.
Biden appears to lose his train of thought
Early in the debate, Biden appeared to lose his train of thought while answering a question about tax cuts.
He accused Trump of implementing tax cuts to benefit the wealthy, and pledged he would fix the tax system by making them pay more. Then he stumbled, paused and trailed off.
"We'd be able to help make sure that all those things we need to do, child care, elder care, making sure that we continue to strengthen our health care system, making sure that we're able to make every single solitary person eligible for what I've been able to do with the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with look, if we finally beat Medicare," he said.
Critics have often held up Biden's public pauses and gaffes to argue that the 81-year-old is too old for the job. His performance tonight is being closely watched by those eager to jump on his stumbles.
Fact-checking Trump's abortion claims
Trump has accused doctors of executing babies who are born alive after a failed abortion attempt many times.
Federal data suggests that very few U.S. babies are born alive as a result of a failed abortion. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 143 deaths during a 12 year period ending in 2014 involving infants born alive during attempted abortions.
The majority of abortions in the U.S. happen in the first trimester (first 12 weeks of pregnancy). Only about 1.3% take place after 21 weeks, according to the CDC, and many are not viable or may endanger the mother.
Here's how long each candidate has to answer questions
Each candidate has two minutes to answer a question, plus one minute for responses and rebuttals. They may also get an additional minute for clarifications, at the discretion of the moderators.
At the end, each will have two minutes for closing statements. Trump will go last, as determined by a coin flip ahead of time — Biden won and chose his podium placement instead (on the right-hand side) of the viewers.
Biden and Trump disagree about extending 2017 tax cuts
According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, more than half the savings from the 2017 tax cut went to the top 10% of earners, and more than a quarter went to the top 1%.
Large parts of the 2017 tax cut are due to expire next year. Trump has proposed extending all of them, and while also calling for additional, unspecified tax cuts.
Biden has proposed extending the tax cuts for everyone making less than $400,000 a year (97% of the population) while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
Under Biden, the IRS has also beefed up tax enforcement to ensure that wealthier people and businesses pay what they owe. GOP lawmakers have criticized that effort, and it would likely be reversed in a second Trump administration.
First question at the debate: inflation
The debate kicked off with a question about why prices are so high — one of voters' top concerns.
Inflation soared to a four-decade high of 9.1% in 2022, according to the consumer price index. While inflation has since fallen to 3.3%, prices are still climbing faster than most people would like.
The pandemic roiled the economy, tangling supply chains. Government spending in the U.S. under both Biden and Trump also may have contributed, putting more money in people’s pockets and enabling them to keep spending in the face of high prices.
While high prices are a source of frustration for many Americans, the average worker has more buying power today than they did before the pandemic. Since February 2020 (just before the pandemic took hold in the U.S.) consumer prices have risen 21% while average wages have risen 22%.
Many prices were depressed early in the pandemic, however, so the comparison is less flattering if you start the clock when Biden took office. Since early 2021, consumer prices have risen 19% while average wages have risen 16%. Wage gains have been outpacing price increases for the last year, so that gap should eventually close.
The federal debt has grown under both Trump and Biden
The federal debt grew substantially under both Trump and Biden. While the pandemic accounts for much of that red ink, both presidents have overseen large deficits, including periods before and after the pandemic when the economy was in good shape.
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the federal debt grew by $7.2 trillion during Trump’s time in office, while another $6 trillion has been added so far on Biden’s watch.
Thanks to rising interest rates, the cost of carrying that debt has soared in recent years. This year, the government will pay an estimated $892 billion in interest on the debt – more than it spends on national defense.
Where the candidates stand on tariffs
Donald Trump raised tariffs sharply while he was in office, and he’s pledged to go further if he returns to the White House. During his first term, Trump imposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, washing machines, solar panels and numerous products from China. Many trading partners retaliated, slapping tariffs of their own on U.S. exports. Farmers and manufacturers suffered as a result.
Despite the fallout, Biden has left most of the Trump tariffs in place, while adding his own, additional levies on targeted goods from China such as electric vehicles.
In a second term, Trump has proposed adding a 10% tariff on all imports, with a much higher levy on all Chinese goods. Researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimate such import taxes would cost the average family $1700 a year.
Biden and Trump are both taking credit for creating jobs. Here are the numbers
Trump had a solid record of job growth during his first three years in office, when employers added 6.6 million jobs.
Unfortunately, those gains and more were wiped out by the pandemic, which briefly drove the unemployment rate up to 14.8%.
Although employment began to rebound by the summer of 2020, there were still 2.7 million fewer jobs when Trump left office than when he entered the White House four years earlier.
The United States has continued to add jobs since then – a whopping 15.6 million jobs since Joe Biden was sworn in as president. The unemployment rate has been at or below 4% for the last two and a half years.
The debate is officially underway
The moderators are onstage, the candidates are behind the lecterns, and the debate is officially underway.
A reminder: It's set to run for 90 minutes, with two commercial breaks. We'll bring you updates and context here on this live blog, and you can also tune into your NPR station (or stream us live on the NPR app) to hear the CNN debate live, followed by analysis from NPR political reporters.
Biden mocks Trump claim that he's on performance-enhancing drugs
President Biden is poking fun at a conspiracy theory that Former President Donald Trump and his allies have been pushing ahead of the debate: that Biden is using performance-enhancing drugs.
In a post on the social media site X in the moments before the debate began, Biden posed with a can of Biden-branded water.
I don't know what they've got in these performance enhancers, but I'm feeling pretty jacked up.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 28, 2024
Try it yourselves, folks.
See you in a bit: https://t.co/vD3mL9slj1 pic.twitter.com/Li4EM9mzve
Trump has increasingly turned to the false claim that Biden is using performance-enhancing drugs before events like this debate so that people don't realize how old he is.
A Biden campaign spokesperson said Trump was resorting to "desperate, obviously false lies" to distract from his positions on abortion rights and other issues.
The drugs line has become something of a go-to explanation anytime Biden exceeds the very low bar Trump sets for him.
“Many media outlets on the right suggested stridently that President Biden’s only chance for winning tonight's debate with Donald Trump was for his doctors to inject him with some type of magical chemical concoction that would make him peppy and vigorous,” said Howard Polskin, who monitors conservative media for his newsletter and website TheRighting.
Trump started talking about drug testing after Biden’s State of the Union address earlier this year, saying he was “high as a kite.”
But you can go even further back to September 2020, before his debates with Biden that fall, to find Trump demanding his opponent take a drug test.
Trump also used the line against Hillary Clinton after a 2016 debate.
Debate prep: Where the candidates stand on foreign policy
When it comes to foreign policy, a lot has changed since Trump and Biden last took the debate stage — and there's a lot on the table for them to discuss tonight.
Morning Edition spoke with NPR White House correspondents Franco Ordoñez and Asma Khalid about some of the hot-button global issues that could come up tonight, and what viewers should keep in mind going into the debate.
Trump argues that the world is a more dangerous place since he was in office. He says Biden allowed Russia to attack Ukraine, and blames him for Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Trump also blames Biden for the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, in which 13 U.S. service members and some 170 Afghan civilians were killed — even though that was a plan Trump himself put in motion.
That was also the moment when Biden's approval rating "first began to dip underwater," Khalid notes.
"I think that's worth keeping in mind because Biden really came into office as the adult in the room — the man who could provide stability, both here at home, globally, after some of the more chaotic moments under the Trump presidency," she adds.
Can Biden still make the case for himself as the adult in the room?
Biden has helped defend Ukraine — and by extension, Europe — without committing any U.S. troops on the ground, and worked to strengthen NATO and rebuild alliances in the continent that were broken under Trump.
"There's no question that Europe sees the United States as being more dependable," Ordoñez says. "That said, what Trump is saying about too much war is resonating with a lot of the American public, and that has been an effective message for him."
Biden's response to the Israel-Hamas war, in particular, has cost him some support — at least during the primary season — among people of color and young voters, who were key to his win in 2020.
Ordoñez says Trump has said in interviews he has a plan to resolve those issues quickly, but can't say what they are because that would "reveal his hand and he wouldn't be able to negotiate once he's in power."
For more context, check out these stories:
- Trump could — and wants to — shake up U.S. foreign policy even more in a second term
- Will the generational divide on support for Israel impact the presidential election?
- How 2 unexpected wars are defining Biden's presidency
- What a second Biden or Trump presidency could mean for American allies and foes
As Trump takes to the stage, his signature style may be muted
When President Biden and former President Donald Trump face off Thursday, it will mark the first time a sitting president and a former president have ever debated.
The Trump campaign has been trying to frame this election as a contest between strength and weakness.
Those efforts could be undercut by a new format designed to avoid the chaos that marked their first faceoff.
Trump has given little indication that he plans to play along.
"How should I handle him?" Trump asked supporters this weekend in Philadelphia. "Should I be tough and nasty? ... Or should I be nice and calm and let him speak?"
Their first debate four years ago quickly unraveled into a mess of angry insults and personal attacks as Trump sought to bulldoze over Biden, questioning what he said.
It’s largely because of those interruptions that this debate switches up that format. There will be no audience. And host broadcaster CNN will mute microphones.
The change is largely expected to hurt Trump.
How Trump and Biden were greeted by their supporters in Atlanta
Biden arrived in Atlanta just after 3 p.m. As he made his way downtown, he was greeted by supporters downtown holding "Biden Harris" and "Dark Brandon" signs.
Atlanta, it’s good to be back!
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 27, 2024
I met some incredible supporters who are fired up ahead of tonight’s debate. Let’s finish the job. pic.twitter.com/hGDGtuvnC8
The president then entered a nearby hotel for a closed-door meeting, according to White House pool reporters.
Trump landed in Atlanta a few hours later, around 5:30 p.m. Georgia Public Broadcasting reports that he "descended the stairs alone and waved to supporters without speaking and got into his awaiting vehicle."
GPB reports that around 7 p.m., Trump supporters gathered on an overpass in Midtown Atlanta, waving flags and chanting at the cars driving below them on the interstate.
.@realDonaldTrump en route to @CNN Debate in Atlanta, Georgia… pic.twitter.com/HfxKv5B4su
— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) June 27, 2024
When and how to watch tonight's debate
The CNN presidential debate starts at 9 p.m. ET and will run for 90 minutes. It will be moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash at the network’s studios in Atlanta.
The debate will be available on CNN and the streaming platform Max, formerly known as HBO. Viewers without a cable login can also watch on CNN’s website.
You can follow NPR's live blog for updates during the debate and watch the livestream that CNN is making available to other media organizations. That stream will include CNN's commercials and branding; NPR.org will carry that livestream as a public service.
Plus, tune into your NPR station, our online radio player or the NPR app to catch live radio coverage of the debate starting at 9:00 p.m. ET, followed by analysis from NPR reporters.
5 big questions ahead of the debate
Tonight’s debate between President Biden and former President Trump is the first major moment of the general election with only one other debate scheduled. Here are 5 questions to think about ahead of tonight’s debate:
It’s getting old to talk about Biden’s age, but will he show vigor and be on top of the job to reassure voters he is up to the job?
If you watch conservative media, Biden is often described as senile, which has lowered the bar for him at every other major public event, like State of the Union addresses. He’ll have to do it again, but Trump and conservatives have lowered the bar to the point that Biden might only need to step over it. Because of it, Trump has resorted to baselessly alleging that Biden uses performance-enhancing agents. This will likely be the largest single audience of any day in this campaign yet, so Biden having a good, energetic performance would likely do a lot to reassure his base, which he desperately needs.
Can Trump look like he has a coherent grasp of the issues – or will he be unhinged, as he has in past debates?
Trump has said in recent days that he has been preparing his whole life and doesn’t need to hunker down for a week or two to prepare, which is what Biden has been doing. Often a president is the one who stumbles in the first debate in a reelect, but Trump also may be rusty, considering he chose not to participate in any primary debates. He’s never been a policy wonk, and his conspiracy theories, like about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, are rabbit holes that have turned off swing voters in recent elections.
What issues will the moderators focus on?
Expect inflation, abortion, foreign policy, immigration and Trump’s conduct, including his felony conviction and promise to pardon Jan. 6ers to be a major part of the debate. But what gets more time and focus? Polling shows Trump is currently trusted more on inflation, foreign policy and immigration, but Biden gets higher marks on handling abortion rights, and majorities think the investigations into Trump have been fair – despite his cries of political targeting. And how will the moderators handle fact checking? CNN has indicated it would be leaving that to the candidates.
Who will control the debate?
The moderators? Biden? Trump? Someone will affect the flow and that could show which candidate is more of the alpha. Trump has often run over moderators and candidates in past debates. Will new rules rein him in?
Who will the new rules benefit?
There won’t be a studio audience and candidates will be muted when the other candidate is talking. In theory, that should help Biden get his point across without the rampant interruptions of the 2020 debates when Biden told Trump to “shut up, man.” Or will it have an inverse effect by helping Trump look more sedate?
Debate prep: What to know about abortion and the election
Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of temporarily allowing abortions in medical emergencies in the state of Idaho.
The decision shines an even brighter spotlight on the issue of abortion, a key issue for many voters, especially in the two years since the Supreme Court overturned federal abortion protections.
White House correspondents Franco Ordoñez and Asma Khalid appeared on Morning Edition to talk about the candidates' positions on abortion ahead of the CNN presidential debate.
Khalid says the Biden campaign makes two central arguments.
They tie the fall of Roe v. Wade to Trump, saying he hand-picked the three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn that decision. And they argue that Trump would further restrict access to reproductive rights, like IVF and contraception.
"I was out covering Kamala Harris, the vice president, at a campaign rally in Maryland this week," Khalid adds. "She said explicitly that Donald Trump, if he gets the chance, would sign a national ban on abortion that could outlaw abortion in every single state in the country."
Trump, for his part, insists he wants to keep the issue of abortion with states.
"This is an issue that Trump does not really want to talk about," Ordoñez says. "I mean, this is an issue that's been very difficult for him and very difficult for Republicans. He knows, politically, that extremely well."
At the same time, Biden and the Democrats broadly see abortion as one of their biggest strengths. Abortion has been a winning issue for the party since 2022.
"The question here is whether Biden on the debate stage can connect himself directly to that issue," Khalid adds. "So does it mean that voters who support abortion will also come out and support the Democratic candidate for president?"
Check out these stories for more:
- 6 key facts about abortion laws and the 2024 election
- As abortion looks like a key issue in 2024, voters more divided by party than ever
- How political stances on abortion have shifted — for Biden, Trump and voters
- Trump's anti-abortion stance helped him win in 2016. Will it hurt him in 2024?
- Most Americans say criminalizing abortion is wrong — and are divided on deportation
Biden hopes to draw a contrast with Trump in 3 main areas
President Biden has said that his aim with the debate is to draw a contrast with Donald Trump.
“Say what I think. Let him say what he thinks,” Biden told ABC News anchor David Muir in a recent interview. “Remind people what he says, and what I believe and what he believes.”
A Biden campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss debate plans, said the president will be focused on drawing distinctions with Trump in three main areas of focus for his campaign:
- Abortion — the campaign has sought to pin the blame for the loss of abortion rights on Trump, who named conservative justices to the Supreme Court, which overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.
- Democracy — Biden has argued Trump is a threat to democracy, focusing on the Jan. 6 riot of Trump supporters at the Capitol, where lawmakers were formalizing the 2020 election results.
- Economy — Biden wants to raise taxes on billionaires, and says his opponent would give tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations.
Read more here on Biden's debate prep.
Debate prep: What the economy has — and could — look like under Biden and Trump
One of the topics likely to get a lot of attention tonight is the economy, a consistently key concern for many voters.
Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep spoke this week with economic correspondent Scott Horsley and political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben to get a sense of what the candidates might say — and what viewers should keep in mind.
Horsley puts it this way:
"Presidents always get more credit and blame for economic conditions than they should. But Trump had a pretty good track record during his first three years in office. His trade war did some damage. Exports suffered, but the economy did add 6.6 million jobs in those three years. Of course, then the pandemic hit, unemployment soared, and Trump was the first president since Herbert Hoover to leave office with fewer jobs in the country than when he came in."
"Now, under Biden, the economy's added more than 15 million jobs. Unemployment's been at or below 4% for the last two and a half years. It's a record that would be the envy of almost any president. But of course, it's been marred by high inflation."
Inflation hit a four-decade high of 9.1% in 2022 and has since come down by some two-thirds, though people still feel squeezed by the prices of everyday goods, especially groceries.
Kurtzleben says that high inflation helps explain the steady stream of polls showing Americans' negative economic outlook — including the most recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll that shows a majority of Americans saying Trump (54%) would tackle the economy better than Biden (45%).
"The curious thing is, Trump kind of gets a pass on pandemic job losses because voters say, hey, he didn't cause the pandemic," Horsley adds. "Voters don't give Biden the same kind of pass on inflation, even though it's also at least partly the byproduct of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine."
So how would another Trump or Biden presidency change things?
As far as Trump:
- Horsley says some of his proposed economic policies would "probably make inflation worse," like the blanket 10% tariff and mass deportations he's called for while campaigning.
- Trump is also regularly calling to "drill, baby drill" — increase U.S. oil and gas production to lower their costs, but Kurtzleben says it's not clear that would work.
- Many of the Trump-era 2017 tax cuts are set to expire at the end of 2025. Trump wants to extend them for everyone and cut taxes even further.
As far as Biden:
- Biden has made systematic proposals for saving ordinary people money, as Kurtzleben puts it, like cutting insulin prices for seniors and eliminating "junk fees."
- Biden wants to extend the 2017 tax cuts for people earning under $400,000 while raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
Here's some more background reading to whet your appetite:
- Four 'American Indicators' share their view of the U.S. economy — and their politics
- Biden has taken more action on climate than any president. His pitch? It creates jobs
- As the election nears, an analysis of Donald Trump’s economic proposals
- What Would The Economy Look Like If Donald Trump Gets A Second Term?
- Voters in this 'boomerang' county say they're nostalgic for the Trump economy
- Biden touts economic 'comeback' in election-year pitch to skeptical voters
Why did Biden and Trump break up with the group that plans debates?
For more than three decades, the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) ran the debate process, scheduling the events and setting the ground rules.
But not this year. President Biden and former President Donald Trump parted ways with the CPD this spring.
Both campaigns complained the CPD was planning debates for too late in the season, well after many Americans vote in early voting.
Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon also pushed for a simplified format, with no live audience and muted microphones unless candidates are directed to speak –- choices she said allow voters to focus on the subject matter. The CPD typically holds debates at a college or university in front of a packed crowd.
“The Commission’s model of building huge spectacles with large audiences at great expense simply isn’t necessary or conducive to good debates,” O’Malley Dillon wrote to the CPD.
The Trump campaign agreed to the switch in rules. Leading up to the decision to debate on CNN, Trump had vowed to faceoff against Biden "anytime, anywhere, anyplace."
There have also been feuds with CPD in the past. Both campaigns criticized the CPD’s handling of the 2020 debates. Plus, in the spring of 2022, the Republican National Committee announced it would be leaving the CPD, accusing the organization of bias.
In an interview with NPR, Frank Fahrenkopf, the co-chair of the commission, said that it was created as a neutral body "to avoid the haggling over key issues like the number of debates, schedule, format and moderators," he said. "The debates belong to the American public, not to the campaign or the parties."
RFK Jr. didn't make the debate stage, but plans to participate in his own way
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s longshot presidential bid has hit several roadblocks in recent days: After not hitting polling thresholds and not being on enough state ballots, he will not be on this week’s presidential debate stage.
The latest fundraising reports show the campaign does not have much money in the bank, but Kennedy’s campaign manager and daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy is not worried about the prospects for the future of the campaign.
In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition, she insists there will be a “three-way debate” Thursday, falsely claiming that the independent presidential candidate met the criteria published by CNN to appear on the debate stage alongside President Biden and former President Donald Trump.
Later Tuesday afternoon, the campaign announced "The Real Debate" counter-programming, in which Kennedy will "answer the same debate questions live" on a website and streaming on the X social media site.
"I'm going to be on that debate stage with or without their permission," RFK said in a video.
When asked what Kennedy would do on Thursday instead of attending the debate, his campaign manager teased the debate counter-programming announced Tuesday.
“Well, look, I think that the American people want leaders who believe in their ability to make up their own mind, and one way or another, there will be a three-way debate on Thursday,” Amaryllis Fox Kennedy said.
Read more here about the debate qualifications and ensuing drama.
This debate will be different from those in the past. Here are the new rules
Typically, presidential debates occur in front of a live audience, often in an event space on a college or university campus, and are coordinated by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD.)
But not this year. Both candidates have said they will not participate in the CPD’s previously scheduled and announced debates, lobbying for earlier matchups.
Instead, Biden and Trump will take part in Thursday’s debate on CNN and then a second in September hosted by ABC News.
Biden and Trump have agreed to the following rules:
- Microphones will be muted unless a candidate is directed to speak.
- Candidates are not allowed to bring prewritten notes or props. They will receive a pen and paper and a bottle of water.
- A coin toss determined podium positions and the order of closing statements. According to CNN, Biden’s campaign won the coin toss and chose the podium to the viewers' right. As a result, the Trump team chose to deliver the final closing statement of the evening.
Frat boys and RFK supporters are partying near the debate site
ATLANTA — The debate is being held in CNN's Techwood Studios in midtown Atlanta.
Much of the surrounding area is closed and Atlanta's notoriously bad traffic was a little worse as the two presidential candidates arrived. The studio is adjacent to the campus of Georgia Tech, with the school's basketball arena serving as spin room and media work area for hundreds of reporters.
Even inside the security perimeter, life goes on. Supporters of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — who did not qualify for the debate — put up a lemonade stand, while nearby, fraternity members engaged in a little day drinking.
Happy presidential debate day.
— stephen fowler (@stphnfwlr) June 27, 2024
Most of midtown ATL is locked down as Biden and Trump arrive, but the men of Georgia Tech’s Kappa Sigma chapter darty on undeterred.
They’re near the media rideshare drop off, as what appears to be RFK supporters have a setup as well. pic.twitter.com/vP5Vi9mLXi
The debate will be a politics-themed social event at these D.C. bars
Food and drink establishments across the nation's capital are gearing up for a night of watch parties, four years after the height of the COVID-19 pandemic forced people to tune in from home.
Mexican restaurant Johnny Pistolas will hold a watch party with aptly named $10 drink specials: the Filibuster Buzz, the Bipartisan Breeze and Swing State Sangria.
At Union Pub in Capitol Hill, attendees can partake in a "red vs blue" drink poll: They can order a vodka-based drink with either red grenadine or blue curacao. The most popular one wins.
"Yes, there will be a drinking game companion!" it wrote on Instagram.
Elsewhere, Shaw's Tavern plans to air the debate inside and on the patio, with half-priced bottles of wine available all night.
The restaurant and bookstore chain Busboys and Poets will hold parties at all of its locations to watch the debate and celebrate the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
It says the event is free and open to all, and co-hosted by Make All Votes Count DC, a local group promoting a ranked choice voting ballot initiative.
"This event is your chance to engage in thought-provoking discussions, soak in the intensity of the debate, and be a part of history in the making," the chain advertises on its website.
Other local watering holes are offering happy hour pricing and drink specials, as The Hill, the Washingtonian and Washington Post report.
Biden's debate prep involved catching up on Trump's recent remarks
Last Thursday, President Biden arrived at the presidential retreat in the woods of Maryland, known as Camp David, to prepare for the debate.
It’s a secluded site other recent presidents have also used to get ready during their reelection campaigns.
“Biden’s a really big homework guy,” said Jim Messina, who ran former President Barack Obama’s reelection bid in 2012.
But one big challenge for Biden is that he has had less time to do the homework than he did four years ago.
This month alone, he has made two diplomatic trips to Europe, for the G7 summit and for the anniversary of D-Day. And his family has been focused on the trial and conviction of his son Hunter Biden on gun charges.
Biden prepared for the debate in part by catching up on what Trump has been saying in his rallies and interviews — events that Biden has been too busy to watch in real time, a second person involved in debate planning told NPR, also speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss strategy.
Georgia, where the debate is happening, could decide the election
Just under 12,000 votes separated Joe Biden and Donald Trump when they last appeared on the ballot in Georgia.
Four years later, the rivals are sharing the debate stage in Atlanta as they fight for the slice of Georgia voters who could swing the presidential election.
Some of those voters with outsize influence live in Alpharetta, a suburb of Atlanta where new subdivisions keep sprouting and have helped turn this formerly Republican stronghold purple.
Reading a novel on a lounge chair in the sun at Alpharetta’s Wills Park Pool, Kerry Webster is the kind of voter Biden and Trump need to persuade.
Webster says she is unhappy with her choices for president. And though she voted for Trump in 2020, he has since been convicted on 34 felony counts and faces more charges, including in Georgia.
A grand jury indicted Trump just a few miles from the debate stage on charges that he attempted to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election result.
"He's a conniver. He's not really a good person — he's really not," Webster said. "But the economy was better, and Biden, I don't know if he does a lot for us, hate to say."
But Webster does not plan to watch Thursday's debate. Despite living in a state and a suburban community that helped decide the presidency in 2020, she says she feels unmotivated about her options and has wondered whether her vote matters much.
Prasad and Mansi Vichare are watching their kids splashing nearby as a DJ bumps Taylor Swift on repeat and older kids leap from a tall diving board for prizes. The Vichares identify as political independents. And though they plan to vote, they think debates are mostly a useless exercise.
"To be honest, they're a waste, but that's just my opinion," Prasad said. "I'm indifferent," added Mansi, who believes the candidates just tell people what they think they want to hear. "I feel like it's somewhat fake, and so I don't know if it's really that helpful."
Read more here about what the Biden and Trump camps are doing to try to win over Georgia voters.
A Trump will be spinning for Biden tonight
Campaigns bring people into their debate “spin rooms” to send a signal about who their candidates have in their corners.
Tonight, President Biden’s campaign will have Mary Trump, the former president’s outspoken niece, on hand in Atlanta to offer her analysis to reporters there.
A psychologist by training, Mary Trump wrote a book, published in 2020, that aired her family’s dirty laundry. Now the Biden campaign is giving her a big platform to share her concerns about her uncle.
“For my whole life I have witnessed my uncle’s narcissism and cruelty,” said Mary Trump in a statement released by the campaign. "His sense of inferiority has always driven his jealousy and his pathological need to dominate others and this is information that is crucially important for the American people to have in advance of the most important election of our lifetimes.”
Trump is no stranger to inviting splashy guests to debate spin rooms. In 2016, immediately following the release of the Access Hollywood video, he attempted to create a distraction by inviting women who had accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual assault.
Tonight, there’s widespread speculation that Trump’s spin room operation may also be the ultimate vice presidential audition, as he's said his pick for a running mate will be there.
There are no reporters in the room. That's a break with precedent
There will be plenty of cameras in the debate room tonight, but in a break with precedent, no independent reporters will be there to bear witness.
Going back decades, a pool of 13 journalists travel with the president wherever he goes, and have eyes on him whenever he is in public. It includes a television crew, print and wire reporters and photographers, and a radio reporter.
The White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) spent weeks advocating for the pool to be allowed into the CNN studio where the debate is happening. CNN and the campaigns agreed to allow still photographers in. But as for the rest of the pool, CNN ultimately decided to only permit a single print reporter to enter “during a commercial break to briefly observe the setting," the WHCA said in a statement.
WHCA respectfully requests that CNN grant access to the WH print pool reporter for the duration of the debate. Access matters. Independent observation matters. Precedent matters. pic.twitter.com/wNxf8du4t1
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) June 27, 2024
However, while the two men are actually debating, the print pool reporter won’t be there to note off-camera or off-mic interactions for the rest of the press corps.
“We don’t know how this will play out in real time,” said WHCA president Kelly O’Donnell, noting that there is no audience and that CNN will mute the candidates’ microphones when it isn’t their turn to speak.
COVID tests and crosstalk: What happened the last time Trump and Biden debated
Biden and Trump are set to go one-on-one on the debate stage Thursday for the first time in four years.
It's likely to be a memorable night if 2020 is any indication. Here’s a look at what happened last time the two took the stage together.
Trump derailed the first debate
The first round of debates in September 2020 was, by many accounts, a disaster. NPR’s Domenico Montanaro called it “maybe the worst presidential debate in American history.”
Trump arrived on the debate stage trailing in the polls and, apparently, jonesing for drama. He interrupted Biden constantly, peppering him with questions and personal slights despite moderator Chris Wallace’s pleas for order.
Biden tried to ignore Trump talking over him throughout — but called him a “clown” more than once. At one point he had clearly had enough.
“Will you shut up, man?” he said exasperatedly, as Trump continued accusing him of wanting to pack the Supreme Court. “This is so unpresidential.”
Trump even bulldozed over Wallace, prompting the then-Fox News anchor to declare, “Mr. President, I am the moderator of this debate and I would like you to let me ask my question and then you can answer.”
Still, a few substantive moments stood out amidst the chaos and crosstalk. When asked to disavow white supremacist groups, Trump told the Proud Boys to "stand back and stand by,” and he refused to commit to urging his supporters to stay peaceful during the counting of votes.
The second debate was scrapped over COVID concerns
Their next debate, scheduled for Oct. 15 in Miami, was scrapped altogether due to disagreement between the campaigns and the Commission on Presidential Debates over COVID-19 protocols.
Trump refused to debate virtually after he was diagnosed with the virus himself.
At the time, questions were mounting about whether Trump had taken a test — and gotten a positive result — before his first debate with Biden. It later became apparent that he had.
On Oct. 8, the commission announced it would shift to a virtual debate due to health and safety concerns. Trump’s team countered that he would be cleared for public events by then, saying there was “no medical reason” why the debate couldn’t be held in person.
Trump ultimately pulled out of the virtual debate, calling it “a waste of time.”
Each candidate ended up holding individual town halls — Trump on NBC News, Biden on ABC News — on Oct. 15, both airing at the same time.
The final debate was a little less dramatic
Trump and Biden returned to the debate stage in Nashville on Oct. 22, less than two weeks from Election Day.
By that point, more than 40 million Americans had already cast their votes by mail, Biden held a 10-point lead in an average of national polls, and only a small sliver of voters appeared willing to be persuaded.
The debate proved much less dramatic than the first round, partly due to new rules that kept each candidate’s microphone muted during the first two minutes of their opponent’s speaking time, and the no-nonsense approach of moderator Kristen Welker of NBC News.
Montanaro wrote, “Even Biden appeared bored, and near the end of the debate checked his watch.”
Both candidates were relatively restrained when talking about issues — COVID, healthcare and the economy dominated the conversation — though things got more personal as the night went on.
Trump hasn't announced who it is, but says his VP pick will be in attendance
Trump has been hinting for months that he knows who his running mate will be, fueling speculation and (ever-shrinking) shortlists.
The former president even told NBC News over the weekend that the person he has in mind will "most likely" be in attendance, although there will be no studio audience.
"They’ll be there,” he said. “I think we have a lot of people coming.”
Trump has previously said he'll announce his VP pick during the Republican National Convention in mid-July.
Some of the top contenders, as NPR has reported, include South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Ohio Sen. JD Vance and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Other possible picks include some of Trump's former primary rivals, like South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.
Many of those elected officials have made the cable TV rounds in recent weeks to sing Trump's praises.
It's a fitting form of vetting for a presidential candidate who rose to fame in part as the host of a reality show competition — and for a VP who will likely get a lot of airtime.
The stakes for the VP slot are high, especially since Trump has been the de-facto Republican nominee since the race started. His second-in-command will shape the future of the MAGA movement and potentially woo harder-to-reach voting blocs, like moderates.
Choosing a vice president generally comes down to strategy. NPR's Ron Elving says Trump's likely priorities should be doing no harm, followed by creating some form of unity in the Republican Party.
"Trump doesn't need any more controversy," Elving adds. "He doesn't need anybody who carries any baggage of his own or her own."
Read more from Elving about the stakes of VP selection over the decades — and how Trump is putting his spin on a familiar storyline.
Who's watching this debate anyway? Recent polling holds some clues
If you're planning on watching tonight's debate, you're not alone.
A NPR/PBS News/Marist National Poll released last week found that a majority of Americans — 61% — plan to watch most or all of the debate.
Another 24% say they will not be watching the debate, but plan to pay close attention to the news coverage of it. If that's you, hi and thanks for being here!
A smaller sliver, 14%, have no plans to watch or pay attention to the debate.
The survey found that independents (56%) are less likely than Republicans (70%) or Democrats (67%) to tune in.
And that's notable, since independents could play a major role in deciding the election. The Marist poll has Biden and Trump tied evenly at 49% among registered voters nationwide.
Who will be on stage?
Biden and Trump are the only presidential candidates who qualified for the debate stage.
Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. failed to meet the threshold, which required candidates to poll at 15% or higher in four national surveys and appear on enough state ballots that could theoretically push them past the needed 270 Electoral College votes to secure the presidency.
Legal dramas, policy questions and undecided voters: What we're watching for
Candidates will likely speak to recent respective legal dramas.
The debate comes about a month after Trump was found guilty of 34 criminal charges in New York, becoming the first U.S. president in history to be convicted of felony crimes.
On a less historic note, Biden’s son, Hunter, who is not running for office, was convicted on felony gun charges in Delaware in mid-June and faces a second federal trial in September over failing to pay his taxes.
Biden will also likely address concerns over his age and ability to serve a second term. At 81, he is the oldest sitting president in U.S. history, and if elected for a second term, he would exit office at 86.
While the president has had public slipups throughout his first term, Trump, who is 78, has repeatedly criticized Biden’s mental ability, most recently speculating he should take a cognitive test. In that same speech, Trump incorrectly named the doctor who conducted his own cognitive exam while president.
On the issues, the candidates are expected to discuss the state of the economy and immigration policy, as both are consistently top issues for voters in national polling. It’s also possible the candidates will weigh in on international politics, given voters remain divided on whether the U.S. should be sending military aid to Ukraine and Israel in their respective wars.
The debate may also be an opportunity for Biden to address his decreasing support, when compared to 2020, among key parts of his base, notably Blacks, Latinos and young voters.
Trump is losing some ground among older voters, and the Biden campaign is trying to capitalize on that. Plus, the former president may still need to repair relations with Nikki Haley supporters who remain uncertain about backing him again.
Welcome to presidential debate night. Here's how to follow along
Got your popcorn ready?
Tonight's presidential debate kicks off at 9 p.m. ET and will run for 90 minutes. Expect two commercial breaks, no live audience and at least a little tension.
The debate is hosted by CNN at its midtown Atlanta studios, and moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
NPR will carry a livestream from CNN here and broadcast it alongside our radio special coverage — with commentary from NPR political journalists — from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. You can hear that online, on your local NPR station and on the NPR app.
Plus, this blog will be updated regularly with updates, fact-checks, context and color — so keep this tab open and stick with us as the night unfolds.