Tonight, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will meet in Atlanta for the first of two presidential debates for the 2024 general election, hosted by CNN. Despite the significance of this event, Texas has already faced a setback.
Texas State University in San Marcos was initially set to host the candidates on September 16, marking the first presidential debate ever held in Texas. However, Biden and Trump decided to bypass the Commission on Presidential Debates, giving control directly to the networks. This marks the first presidential debate in 40 years not overseen by the commission.
Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan and editor and co-author of Debating the Donald, explained the motivations behind this shift.
“President Trump and others believed that some commission members were biased against him, which would result in unfair treatment. He was dissatisfied with one of the 2020 moderators,” Kall noted. “President Biden, on the other hand, was unhappy with how the commission managed the COVID situation involving President Trump and his family during the Cleveland debate on September 29, 2020.”
Originally, the Commission on Presidential Debates planned three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate for this year. Following the vice-presidential debate at Lafayette College in Easton, PA on September 25, the other two presidential debates were set for Virginia State University in Petersburg, VA on October 1 and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on October 9.
Kall highlighted the financial and reputational losses for the universities and their communities due to the cancellation of the debates.
“It’s unfortunate for those schools. And it reminds me, I need to cancel some hotel reservations I had for the initial sites where the debates were to be held,” Kall said. “Data shows that applications to universities that hosted debates previously increased significantly due to the exposure they received.”
How to Watch and Listen:
The debate runs from 1pm to 2.30pm NZT on Friday.
In New Zealand, you can watch it through Three Now’s free CNN Fast channel, and Sky TV subscribers can view it on CNN, Fox News and Sky News Australia.
It also should be streamed live on the CNN international website.