Irish start time, where to watch and what to expect – The Irish Times

Republican candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Kamala Harris will face off Wednesday morning Irish time in their first presidential debate since President Joe Biden gave up his re-election bid. It will be the first chance for some 240 million American voters to hear Trump and Harris explain their policies side by side ahead of the November 5 election.

When and where does the debate take place?

The debate, hosted by ABC News, will take place at 2 a.m. Irish time in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of the key swing states between Democrats and Republicans.

The debate will take place at the National Constitution Center, a museum dedicated to the U.S. Constitution on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall.

Will it be televised?

Hosted by ABC’s David Muir and Linsey Davis, the event will be broadcast live on Channel 4 from 1:30am. It will also be streamed on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.

What are the basic rules?

Candidates’ microphones will be muted when it’s not their turn to speak. Harris’ campaign agreed to the rule Wednesday after weeks of back-and-forth with Trump’s campaign, with Harris’ team initially hoping for “hot mics” throughout the debate while Trump’s team pushed for the microphones to be muted.

During the June CNN debate between Biden and Trump, microphones were also muted when the candidates were not speaking. The CNN debate also banned any props, had no live audience and featured two commercial breaks, conditions that are expected to be replicated.

What can we expect from Harris?

Voters want to know more about Harris’s policy plans, strategists say. She could attack Trump over the appointment of three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade, mention “Project 2025,” a broad conservative policy framework written by some of his closest advisers, and compare her record as a prosecutor with her felony conviction.

What can we expect from Trump?

Trump will likely try to pin on Harris the issues that have contributed to Biden’s plummeting popularity with voters — inflation and border security — while suggesting she is not ready to be the nation’s commander in chief. He could point to the liberal positions she took as a 2020 candidate and could attack the Biden administration’s record in Gaza and Ukraine.

What other topics are likely to be covered?

The economy, and particularly high consumer prices, is expected to be a major topic.

Harris has said she would raise taxes on the wealthy and provide economic relief to small businesses. Trump has said he would cut taxes and government spending. He has also proposed eliminating taxes on tips, a proposal Harris has embraced, which could be an opportunity for the two men to discuss a rare shared interest.

What do the polls say?

A national poll of likely voters by The New York Times and Siena College found Trump leading Harris, 48% to 47%, within the poll’s 3 percentage point margin of error and largely unchanged from a Times/Siena poll conducted in late July, just after Biden dropped out of the race.

– Reuters. Additional reporting: New York Times.