Donald Trump and Joe Biden will square off in their first debate in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday. Trump carried Ohio in the 2016 election and almost certainly must do so again to win a second term. Polls show Biden leading in the Midwestern state.

Biden also is ahead of Trump nationally and in a number of other key battleground states, according to polls.

The debate will be chaired by veteran journalist Chris Wallace, who is the anchor of Fox News Sunday. He was in charge for the third debate in 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and was widely praised for his handling of the proceedings.

The second and third debates between Biden and Trump will take place on 15 and 22 October with 3 November election day.

First debate in 2016 campaign

The first debate during the 2016 electoral campaign between Democrat Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump was held on 26 September in Hofstra University in New York.

This debate set the record as the most-watched debate in television history, with 84 million viewers across the 13 channels that carried it live and were counted by Nielsen, surpassing the previous record of 80.6 million viewers set by the debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in 1980.

According to a CNN/ORC poll of debate viewers found that 62% believed Clinton won the inaugural 2016 debate, compared to 27% for Trump. A poll conducted by Public Policy Polling found that 51% thought Clinton won the debate, while 40% thought Trump was the victor.