LAST UPDATE | 27 Jun
WILL THESE TWO old dogs have any new tricks? Or will we get a repeat of the chaotic debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden that US voters were treated to last time the two men faced off?
These are some of the questions that come to mind ahead of tonight’s televised debate in Atlanta, Georgia, between the Republican and Democratic candidates for the US Presidency
The two men are currently neck and neck in the polls on 46% each after Biden gained some ground following his State of the Union speech and Trump’s guilty verdict in a hush money trial in New York.
Tonight represents a chance for both candidates to win over undecided voters and take a lead in the run-up to November’s election.
While televised debates are nothing new in the United States – the first was aired in 1960 when Richard Nixon went head to head with John F. Kennedy – there are a few changes to normal proceedings this time around.
One talking point in the build-up to the first of two TV debates between Biden and Trump has not actually been about the stars of the show, but who’s running it – CNN.
The struggling US network has secured a media monopoly on tonight’s debate; ABC will host the next one on 10 September.
Footage of tonight’s debate will be shown live on other stations but emblazoned with the CNN logo.
This came about after Biden ruled out working with the Commission on Presidential Debates, an independent, nonprofit body that has overseen TV debates since 1987.
The networks televising the two debates specified two criteria that candidates have to meet in order to secure inclusion.
They need 15% support in four approved national opinion polls and must be on enough state ballots to win the 270 Electoral College votes required to take the White House in November.
Robert F Kennedy Jr., who is the third most popular candidate, has fallen short of those requirements but has also filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission challenging the set-up.
Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 15, 2024
Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again.
Well, make my day, pal. pic.twitter.com/AkPmvs2q4u
The change of hosts means a couple of things for tonight’s head-to-head on CNN.
First, unlike debates in previous years, there will be ad breaks.
Secondly, CNN has taken the decision to mute the candidates’ microphones while it is not their turn to speak, which could be bad news for the natural showman that is Donald Trump, especially since he spent much of the last debate with Biden interrupting him and flouting the rules.
Tonight’s moderators are CNN presenters Dana Bash and Jake Tapper and the network will be hoping to avoid getting into the hot water it found itself in the last time it aired a major presidential event.
CNN hosted a controversial, and some would say disastrous, ‘Town Hall’ with Donald Trump in May last year. It was an attempt on the part of the Democrat-friendly network to interrogate Trump’s policies and positions, but a largely partisan crowd and a lack of control from the moderator turned it into something more akin to a Trump campaign rally.
The fallout led to the sacking of CNN boss Chris Licht.
The new head of the network, former BBC director general and chief executive at the New York Times, Mark Thompson, will be hoping the new guardrails can keep things from going sideways tonight.
He actually pointed to the Nixon-Kennedy debate as inspiration when speaking to the New York Times this week, saying he wanted to revert to a more “classical” style.
While getting the exclusive rights to broadcast tonight’s debate is certainly a coup for CNN, there is still a chance it could backfire, especially since Trump is one of the network’s biggest critics, frequently accusing it of bias.
If the 2020 debates between Biden and Trump are anything to go by, we can expect the Republican nominee to attack the incumbent president on immigration and economic policies.
Biden on the other hand will likely go after Trump on abortion, his recent felony convictions and his repeated rejections of the result of the last presidential election.
When it comes to immigration, the border with Mexico has been the topic of choice for Trump but things have changed on that front. Biden recently signed an executive order and imposed stricter, more hostile policies along the southern border, mirroring Trump’s own plans.
Biden forced through the measures after reaching a stalemate in Congress caused by Republican obstruction, despite his Bill being almost an exact replica of what the GOP had originally wanted. Trump was responsible for telling Republicans to vote against it, saying that if it wasn’t “perfect”, it shouldn’t pass.
In terms of economic policies, Trump may also end up arguing with himself. He took the country in a more isolationist direction while in office, aiming particular ire at China.
But Biden has had a hostile relationship with China when it comes to trade and technology. He has sought to ban the social media app TikTok, for example. He has also been forthright in criticising China over its actions in Taiwan, and moved away from the long running “One China” policy towards one of “strategic ambiguity”.
All of this could mean that Trump’s attacks on trade policy fail to land. Then again, he does have a notoriously casual relationship with the truth and his was the administration that gave us the term “alternative facts”, so who knows.
Biden will certainly seek to make much of Trump’s recent convictions and try to cast him as a threat to democracy in light of the events of 6 January 2020 and his describing the last election as “rigged”.
Another issue on the minds of many American voters is access to abortion services.
One of Trump’s lasting successes from his time in office has been producing a Republican-heavy Supreme Court. Two years ago, the legal precedent that underpinned abortion rights in the US was overturned by the court and many states have since introduced bans.
This did not sit well even with some Republican voters and Biden will likely seek to exploit that fact.
Whether Biden is able to maintain his composure and avoid drawing attention to his advanced age will be another test for the President tonight.
At 81, he is just three years older than his Republican rival but recent incidents where Biden has appeared confused or has slurred his words have fuelled questions about whether he’s up to the task of running the country for another four years.
Tonight’s debate will put his mental faculties to the test and Trump will undoubtedly have something to say on the matter.
The 90-minute debate kicks off at 9pm EST tonight, which is 2am in Ireland.
Those willing to stay up late and watch the debate live can do so by tuning in to CNN on Sky Digital channel 506. Unfortunately, CNN’s livestreaming service is not available in Ireland.
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