Presidential Debate 2024 Live Updates: Donald Trump and Joe Biden Face Off

Sure, it’s a bit of a cliché to say the stakes are high before a big political debate, but no, we can’t stress this enough: The stakes are very, very high. This first presidential debate of 2024 “could be the most consequential” ever, writes Mark McKinnon, “because American democracy is, quite literally, at stake.” The same can be said for reproductive rights and the government’s ability to combat climate change, as Donald Trump and his allies have put forth a radical, right-wing vision for America. Joe Biden will surely highlight Trump’s threat to democracy at tonight’s CNN-hosted debate, which kicks off at 9 p.m., but the president also has to make an affirmative case for another four years—and, at 81, demonstrate that he’s up to the task.

RFK Jr. Going His Own WayThere is one presidential candidate who will be conspicuously absent from tonight’s showdown: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The independent hopeful has repeatedly blasted both the Democratic and Republican parties for not letting him qualify, and will even be counter-programming it with his own NewsNation face-off against Jill Stein.

The Fact-Checking ChallengeJake Tapper and Dana Bash face an especially difficult task as moderators given Donald Trump’s propensity to lie and violate the rules of the debate. Both of the CNN veterans—neither of whom has moderated a general-election presidential debate—criticized past moderator Chris Wallace for this very problem after the presidential debate in September 2020, with Tapper noting that Wallace “did not have control over the debate stage” and “didn’t remind the president that he was violating the rules until one hour and 13 minutes into the debate.”

Tapper has been vocal about the need for journalists to fact-check Trump, telling my colleague Joe Hagan in 2020 that “calling out the president’s lies has been a deep frustration of mine with the news media since 2015, 2016…there has not been enough of that.” Yet CNN’s political director David Chalian told the New York Times that Thursday’s live debate “is not the ideal arena for live fact-checking” and said Bash and Tapper would focus on “facilitating the debate between these candidates, not being a participant in that debate.” CNN analysts will handle the fact-checking immediately after the telecast, Chalian added.

Speaking of the Times, it’s all hands on deck at the Gray Lady, which earlier this week said that 29 of the 60 staffers they have covering this debate are fact-checkers.

The Best and Worst Job on TelevisionThe CNN studio is prepared for the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections.by CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP/Getty Images.

Ahead of tonight’s debate, Brian Stelter, a former CNN anchor and current host of Inside the Hive, caught up with several past debate moderators for their thoughts on the challenge facing Jake Tapper and Dana Bash in keeping candidates on track—and staying largely out of the fray.

Bob Schieffer’s advice: “Don’t forget, this is not about you; this is about the candidates.”

“My goal was always to put myself in the shoes of the people who are watching or listening or following, to make sure that we’re asking the questions that the public needs to know about,” said Judy Woodruff.

And here’s an idea from Ann Compton: “I still dream of the day that two candidates enter the stage from opposite sides. Each takes a seat at a round table. No moderator. No format. No timer on questions,” she said. “It is what a president does in a meeting with a formidable adversary. It is what a commander in chief must do at moments of crisis. Go ahead, show us how you would act as president of the United States.”

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The Spin CycleGeorgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks to reporters in the CNN Spin Room ahead of a CNN Presidential Debate on June 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images.

When reporters travel to a primary or general election debate, they’re generally not watching in the hall with the candidates, but in a nearby press filing center. So why go? One reason is for access to the spin room, where surrogates for the candidates provide their takes–their spin—to reporters who are hungry for quotes on deadline.

Back in 2012, as debate reactions were already flowing instantaneously on social media, I asked Steve Schmidt why this tradition continues. “I’m not sure why you eat apple pie on Thanksgiving, but you do,” he told me. “I’m not sure why you go into the spin room after the debates, except because you do.”

It’s often pandemonium after a debate, as reporters governors or prominent party leaders entering the spin room. But the scene may look a little different tonight, as Politico reports: “Instead of dispatching an army of surrogates into a sea of reporters from the debate’s last word until they turn off the lights, the Biden campaign plans to send in a team of its top communicators to deliver succinct statements and take a few questions before departing. They’ll stand as a group and each speak briefly, one at a time. There will be, alas, no cardboard signs.”

Among the attendees spinning for Biden: Mary Trump, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Jasmine Crockett, Gavin Newsom, Robert Garcia, Cedric Richmond, and Raphael Warnock.

“It’s not a secret that a big part of the exercise here is to not have the circus and the spectacle,” a senior Biden campaign official told Politico. “We aren’t here to do all the things the media or political ecosystem wants. We want to have a conversation about the substance of the debate.”

Meanwhile, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who has had a strained relationship with Trump but has indicated he will vote for him in November, has already been making the rounds.

Biden’s Pre-Debate Meet and GreetSome reporters on the scene in Atlanta as Joe Biden stops to greet supporters:

Why Biden Needs to Come Out SwingingBiden could just calmly and consistently needle a thin-skinned Trump about being the biggest loser of all time. Pick two or three issues: a botched pandemic response, an aversion to NATO, his support for extremists, his chaotic first term, his two impeachments and 34 felony counts. Just jab, poke, and parry, and I believe Trump will unravel.

Trump VP Wannabes Flock to AtlantaTonight’s presidential debate will notably have no audience members, but would-be Donald Trump running mates will be nearby anyway, ready to tell the world he did an incredible job—in the hopes of clinching the VP nomination.

Senators J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio, and Tim Scott, as well as representatives Elise Stefanik and Byron Donalds, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, and former HUD secretary Ben Carson—all of whom are said to be under consideration for the number two job—will reportedly watch the CNN debate at a party in Atlanta hosted by former Georgia senator Kelly Loeffler and her husband, with help from the cochairs of the RNC; tickets cost $10,000 per couple, or a cool $25,000 to sit at a table with VP contenders.

Revisiting Trump’s Reality-TV ChopsThere’s a reason Donald Trump so effectively trounced his presidential opponents in the 2016 debate: He hails from the world of showbiz. In an adaptation from his book The Naughty Nineties, David Friend reflected on how the former president’s background in reality TV—and even professional wrestling—primed him for political pugilism: “He understood that on reality programs the cleverest half-truth could mortally wound an opponent, and the craftiest player would often win—and win over his audience.”

The View from BidenworldHere’s how to immediately determine the winner of Thursday night’s presidential debate: search “Joe Biden” and “drugs.” If social media mentions are spiking, the current president has out-maneuvered the former president, and the Republican slime machine has revved into top speed. “We’re data people, so that’s the metric I’ll be watching,” a Democratic strategist says, only half-jokingly. “If right-wing Twitter goes crazy saying he’s hopped up on stimulants, you’ll know we won.”

No Audience, Muted Mics: How the Debate Will WorkCNN’s Phil Mattingly provides a helpful breakdown of the mechanics behind the debate, from how the candidates will know when they can respond, and for how long, to what it’ll sound like someone interjects while their mic is muted.