Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democrat counterpart Kamala Harris will participate in the crucial US Presidential debate being hosted by ABC Networks globally. The presidential debate comes exactly 8 weeks ahead of election day across the United States.

The US presidential debate may prove to be a game-changing moment for either candidate with the most recent polls showing Kamala Harris and Donald Trump neck-and-neck in the high-stakes battle for the top post.

The debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will be their first, and most-likely, only debate. The clash could prove pivotal for either participant in the pitched battle for the White House.

Tens of millions of views in the United States and several million more across the world will tune in to the debate at 9 pm Eastern Time or ET (01:00 am GMT, 06:30 am IST).

The significance of the debate and its timing can be ascertained from the fact that early voting will begin in quite a few states just days after the televised debate. The battle is so intense that even a small faux pas could result in a major swing in either direction.

The encounter is particularly crucial for Kamala Harris as latest opinion polls have suggested that more than a quarter of likely voters across the United States feel they do not yet know enough about the Vice President, in contrast to former President Donald Trump.

THE BATTLE

The globally televised debate offers Kamala Harris, a former prosecutor, the chance to make her case and corner Donald Trump, whose felony convictions, outspoken backing for supporters convicted of the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol and frequent falsehoods all offer plenty of fertile ground.

In the last few weeks, Donald Trump has also indulged in personal attacks on Kamala Harris, included racist and sexist insults.

Kamala Harris, 59, who enjoys a significant advantage among women voters according to the most recent polls, is expected to press Donald Trump on reproductive rights after he made a number of seemingly contradictory comments recently on abortion rights.

Donald Trump, 78, will meanwhile try to corner Kamala Harris, the current vice-president on issues like the economy, immigration, and inflation.

The ABC News debate is scheduled to last for 90 minutes and will be held without an audience. There are also some established rules for the debate.

THE CANDIDATES, THE PREPARATION

Kamala Harris is America’s first female, Black and Indian-American Vice President. Ms Harris arrived in Philadelphia a day before the debate after isolating in a hotel in Pittsburgh for five days amid intense practice sessions.

Donald Trump’s team has claimed that he has taken a more relaxed approach ahead of his seventh presidential debate, choosing to arrive in Philadelphia just hours before and keeping his preparations limited.

The debate will certainly see a contrast in styles of both candidates, but is likely to be a quiet one with the rules stating that the two candidates’ microphones will be muted when they are not speaking. This was done on the Trump team’s request.

While Donald Trump has been part of six previous Presidential debates, this would be the first one for Kamala Harris.

The 90-minute debate will take place at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
 

This combination of pictures shows, L-R, U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, and former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump will clash in their first and possibly last televised debate on Tuesday (September 10, 2024), in a potentially game-changing moment for the blockbuster 2024 U.S. presidential election.

The stakes could hardly be higher for the Democratic vice president and Republican former president as tens of millions of American voters tune in to see them finally face off.

A single zinger or gaffe could tip the balance of one of the most dramatic White House races in U.S. political history, with the two rivals neck-and-neck in the polls with less than two months until election day.

For Vice President Harris, 59, it will be a critical chance to win over voters who still know little about her, as her honeymoon starts to fade after suddenly replacing President Joe Biden in July.

Mr. Trump, 78, will meanwhile try to box in Ms. Harris on issues like the economy and immigration, but may also unleash more of the racist and sexist insults that he’s directed her way during the campaign.

The two candidates will also be meeting in person for the first time at the ABC News debate in Pennsylvania, adding to the potential for a bruising confrontation.

“This debate may go down in the history books. Break out the popcorn,” said Andrew Koneschusky, a former press secretary for U.S. Senate leader Chuck Schumer

Also read | Trump continues personal attacks against Harris, claims he’s ‘better looking’ than her

‘No floor’

Ms. Harris, America’s first female, Black and South Asian vice president, arrived in Philadelphia on the eve of the ABC News debate after five days holed up in a hotel doing intense practise sessions.

One of her aides even reportedly dressed up in a Trump-style boxy suit and long tie so she could get used to unloading her best lines on her opponent.

Trump’s team said he has taken a more relaxed approach ahead of his seventh presidential debate, choosing to arrive in Philadelphia just hours before and keeping his preparations limited.

The debate may lack the full-scale shouting matches of previous years, as the two candidates’ microphones will be muted when they are not speaking, at the Trump team’s request.

But it will still be a potential turning point – as well as a contrast in styles.

In one corner is a former prosecutor who has in the past delivered ice-cold put-downs to debate rivals including Biden himself and Trump’s former vice president Mike Pence in the past.

“There’s no floor for him in terms of how low he will go,” Harris said in a radio interview broadcast Monday. “He is probably going to speak a lot of untruths.”

‘Like a boxer’

In the other corner is Donald Trump, the most brutal knife-fighter in U.S. politics, who has been convicted of falsifying business records to cover up a porn star scandal and is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election.

“You can’t prepare for President Trump,” his spokesman Jason Miller said. “Imagine like a boxer trying to prepare for Floyd Mayweather, or Muhammad Ali.”

Ms. Harris in many ways has the most to prove at the debate.

Her campaign suffered a setback at the weekend when a major New York Times/Siena poll showed Trump ahead by 48 to 47%, with the two candidates effectively tied in the half a dozen major battleground states.

She will be under pressure to spell out her so-far vague policy manifesto to voters, who according to the NYT poll said they need to know more about her.

Former reality TV star Trump is by far the more experienced presidential debater, with six under his belt, but swing voters may be put off if he insults the candidate aiming to become America’s first woman president.

Trump is still reveling in the fact that his last debate opponent, the 81-year-old Biden, performed so catastrophically that he was forced to withdraw from the race.