President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will meet Thursday in the final presidential debate before Election Day on Nov. 3.
It is the second debate for the candidates, though it was supposed to be the third. The second scheduled debate was canceled after the Commission on Presidential Debates tried to make that debate a virtual one following Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis.
Trump decline to participate in a virtual event, and then Biden accepted an offer from a TV network to have a town hall-type event on the night the debate had been scheduled.
Trump then agreed to a town hall-type debate on another network on the same night at the same time.
A new wrinkle for Thursday’s event was announced earlier this week when the CPD said a mute button would be used during the debate.
When a candidate is asked a question, the other candidate’s microphone will be muted for two minutes in order to give the candidate who was asked the question time to answer it uninterrupted.
Or, at least that’s the plan.
The idea of a mute button was announced after the candidates interrupted each other hundreds of times during the first debate.
When the debate was originally announced, the topic was to be foreign affairs. Over the weekend, however, debate moderator Kristen Welker released her list of topics, and the topic of foreign affairs did not make the list.
Instead, Welker will ask about national security, climate change and American families, among other topics.
Before the Debate starts, join KIRO 7′s Monique Ming Laven for in-depth coverage of the biggest local stories of the day on KIRO 7 News from 5 to 6 p.m.
Locally, candidates for Washington State’s Lieutenant Governor will face off in their first, and only, debate. Stream it live at 8 p.m. on the KIRO 24/7 app on your smart TV or streaming device.
Then, after the debates, watch KIRO 7 Tonight at 11 p.m. when we’ll go deeper with expert analysis on the important issues that will impact you.
Here’s what you need to know about the debate:
The debate begins on KIRO TV at 6 p.m. You can also watch it live on all of KIRO 7′s digital platforms, including the KIRO 7 24/7 app, on your smart TV, or at this link.
Where: The debate will be held in Nashville, Tennessee, at Belmont University.
Details: There will be no commercial breaks in the 90-minute long debate. It will be divided into six topic segments of 15 minutes each.
What are the topics: Here is the list of topics Welker will ask the candidates about:
- Fighting COVID-19
- American families
- Race in America
- Climate change
- National security
- Leadership
Live updates: Live updates will begin at this link at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Cox Media Group
