CNN announces rules for Biden-Trump debate

The first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will take place in about two weeks, and the network hosting the debate has provided the rules that both candidates will follow.

The debate will take place on Thursday, June 27, at CNN’s studio in Atlanta, a key city in the crucial battleground state of Georgia. It will be moderated by presenters Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, and the approximately 90-minute debate will include two commercial breaks.

Under rules agreed to during the two candidates’ campaigns, Biden and Trump will both stand on neutral podiums, and the positioning of those podiums will be determined by drawing lots.

The candidates’ microphones will be muted during the debate until it is their turn to speak, apparently in an effort to limit interruptions and crosstalk.

There will be no audience at the debate and no props or pre-written notes will be allowed. However, each candidate will be provided with a pen and pad of paper for taking notes, as well as a bottle of water.

CNN said that to qualify for the debate stage, candidates must meet the thresholds required to be a candidate under the US Constitution, as well as be on the ballot in enough states to reach 270 votes in the electoral college, enough to win the White House. — and obtain at least 15% in four national polls meeting network standards. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is vying to get on the ballot in several states, has fought to enter the debate stage, even going so far as to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission for collusion between the networks and the Biden and Trump campaigns.

The debates took shape last month after Biden challenged Trump to face off, forgoing traditional debates sponsored by the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates. The second will take place in September, hosted by ABC News.

Trump quickly agreed and later challenged Biden to additional debates, including one hosted by Fox News in October, but Biden’s campaign said there were no dice.

“We made it clear what we wanted,” Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz told Spectrum News last month. “We wanted two debates, we wanted to make sure they were fair and focused not on theatrics but on the real political issues here, and he agreed to them. But what Donald Trump continues to do, he’s playing a game with the American people because he doesn’t want to talk about the issues…enough with the games.”

The debate will take place before the presidential nominating conventions — when Trump and Biden officially become their respective parties’ nominees again — as well as before Trump’s conviction at his secret trial in New York. A jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment to an adult film star before the 2016 election to cover up an alleged extramarital affair. Trump has denied the affair and vowed to appeal his conviction.

Biden’s campaign launched a $50 million ad blitz Monday attacking Trump as a convicted felon, which will run before the first debate through the end of June. Trump’s campaign responded by baselessly calling his lawsuit a sham.