The second and final presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden begins at 9 p.m. ET, live from Belmont University in Nashville Thursday night. The 90-minute debate will be moderated by NBC News journalist Kristen Welker. It will air on most major networks and be available to stream online on YouTube.
The debate will air on all four major broadcast networks, ABC, Fox, NBC, and CBS. It will also air live on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and C-Span. You can also stream the event live for free on YouTube by clicking here. Twitter will also stream the event at its U.S. election hub. If you do not have a cable subscription, but still have access to streaming options and would prefer to watch the debate on television, online television apps like Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, AT&T Now and YouTube TV are also options. Most of these platforms provide limited free trials before your account is charged.
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This is actually the third planned presidential debate before the 2020 presidential election on Nov. 3. The second debate was scheduled for Oct. 15, but the Commission on Presidential Debates turned it into a virtual debate after Trump tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month. Trump refused to participate in a virtual event, so the debate was canceled. Biden then scheduled an ABC News town hall for that night, and Trump booked a competing town hall on NBC News.
Earlier this week, the commission announced the candidates’ microphones will be muted while another candidate is speaking at the beginning of each segment. This will give Trump and Biden the opportunity to speak for two uninterrupted minutes at the beginning of each 15-minute part on a particular topic. Their microphones will not be muted during the rest of the segments, as these portions are “intended to be dedicated to open discussion,” the commission said Monday.
The debate will focus on foreign policy, with the individual topics being “fighting COVID-19,” “American families,” “Race in America,” “Climate Change,” “National Security” and “Leadership.” Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien objected to these topics and accused the commission of showing support for Biden. The Biden campaign said both campaigns previously agreed that the moderator would pick the topics and Trump’s campaign wanted to avoid questions about Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump has also repeatedly attacked Welker. Over the weekend, he tweeted that Welker has “always been terrible & unfair, just like most of the Fake News reporters, but I’ll still play the game.” During a campaign rally in Arizona, Trump called Welker a “radical Democrat” without evidence and claiming she’s “no good.”
