ATLANTA – You may think we’ve been here before – and we have.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump face off Thursday night in their first debate of the 2024 presidential campaign. Of course, they’ve done this before, four years ago, but things are different now.
Biden is the incumbent in the White House and Trump is the Republican challenger – and both have now held the office they seek from voters in November. There is no longer a global pandemic to make in-person campaigning and debates logistically challenging and even dangerous. Biden has now turned 81, while Trump is not far behind at 78. And Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime, as he faces prison time.
All of these factors will lead to a historic meeting between the two presumptive candidates, which begins airing on CNN at 9 p.m. ET. Here’s what you need to know before the debate.
1. It is the first and possibly last time they debate.
Biden and Trump agreed last month to hold two debates before Election Day: Thursday’s event, which comes unusually early in the election cycle, and another debate on Sept. 10, several weeks before the election. (It was the desire for that specific timing that led the campaigns to forgo cooperation with the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.)
But depending on what happens at the former president’s sentencing hearing next month on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Trump could potentially be behind bars before the next debate. In that case, the debate with Biden could be the least of Trump’s worries as he grapples with the reality of accepting the Republican Party’s nomination and possibly even ruling from prison.
That also adds weight to Thursday night’s meeting, less than five months before the election, if it is the last time they appear together on stage. The candidates are under more pressure to make a lasting impression that sets the tone for the campaign for the rest of the summer and into the fall.
2. There are (mostly) only Biden and Trump in the room.
The two candidates have agreed not to have a live audience when they meet at CNN’s Atlanta studio. The room will be virtually empty except for the candidates and debate moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.
It is the first time since the debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960 that two presidential candidates have debated without a live audience. The unusual setup means the candidates cannot play to an audience or use it as a distraction. Biden and Trump have also agreed to mute the microphone when it is not their turn to speak.
The media will watch the debate in an indoor arena at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Nicknamed the “Thrillerdome,” the arena is normally home to the university’s basketball teams, but this week it will be taken over by hundreds of reporters from other cities.
3. Biden went into the debate with a focus on January 6th…
Biden has already used the debate to remind voters of the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, which Trump instigated at his “Stop the Steal” rally the same morning Congress met to certify the electoral votes.
On Wednesday, the campaign released an endorsement from Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, the former congressman who gave up running for re-election after voting to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 riots. It also released a new ad featuring a Michigan sheriff criticizing Trump for standing idly by as his supporters ransacked the Capitol in an attempt to stop Biden from taking office.
The campaign’s blitz reinforces Biden’s key arguments against Trump: that he is a threat to democracy and that another Trump term would plunge the country back into the chaos of his first term.
4. … while Trump called for drug testing.
In the days and weeks leading up to the debate, Trump vacillated between calling Biden an impressive debater and speculating that Biden would take some kind of performance-enhancing drug before their meeting. (Biden’s campaign called Trump’s drug speculation “blatantly false lies” and “desperate”).
Trump escalated his attacks on Biden over the weekend in Philadelphia, predicting that Biden would give himself a “shot in the butt” to “pump up” for the event. On Tuesday, Trump called on Biden to submit to a drug test and said he would submit to one, too.
The former president can’t seem to decide whether Biden is a gifted debater or a doddering puppet who can’t get through a 90-minute debate without drugs. But both attacks serve to dampen expectations about Trump’s performance.
5. Trump and Biden are neck and neck in the polls.
The debate comes at a time when the two candidates are neck and neck in national polling averages. Trump is ahead by a whisker, but is well within the margin of error with months to go before the first vote is cast.
No poll conducted this early in the election cycle is meant to reflect what will happen in November. But election forecasters see a general trend of weak polling for Biden in some swing states where voters are most concerned about the economy, border security and immigration.
Debates can give candidates a small advantage in the polls, but whatever happens Thursday night, it’s unlikely to be enough to sustain that lead long-term.
