SAN ANTONIO – Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump met in their first debate of this election on Tuesday, Sept. 10.
This marked the second general election debate of the 2024 campaign season but the first between the nominees, as President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid this summer.
With Biden’s departure from the campaign after the first debate, there was some concern whether Trump and Harris would be facing off at all. As the vice president wound her way from Biden’s running mate to Democratic nominee, Trump said he had made his initial debate agreement with Biden, inserting doubt into whether he would meet Harris on a debate stage.
Then there was the kerfuffle over the muting of microphones — except for a candidate’s turn to speak — something Biden’s campaign had made a condition of its decision to accept any debates this year. Some aides have said they have come to regret that decision, saying voters were shielded from hearing Trump’s outbursts. Harris’ campaign said it wanted all microphones to be live, and, while Trump said he’d rather have mics “probably on,” his campaign agreed to the same mic muting in place for the June debate with Biden.
The current ABC framework for the second debate has the same rules for mic muting, no live audience or written notes. It’s being moderated by ABC anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis.
ABC has a breakdown of the rules that each presidential candidate will have to follow.
Rules of the debate:
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No audience in the room.
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Microphones will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak.
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Microphones will be muted when the time belongs to the other candidate.
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Only the moderators will be allowed to ask questions.
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There will be no opening statements.
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Closing statements will be two minutes per candidate.
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Each candidate will be given two minutes to answer each question with a two-minute rebuttal.
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An additional minute will be given for a follow-up, clarification or response.
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No pre-written notes will be allowed on stage.
So far, the candidates have not come to an agreement on meeting again for another debate.
CBS News will host a vice presidential debate on Oct. 1 between Walz and Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance. That event is planned to be held in New York City.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.