Presidential Elections
Final Presidential Debate Trump vs Biden: date, where is it, moderator, format and topics
The second debate between the presidential candidates, which should have been the third, will be held at Nashville's Belmont University on 22 October.
Donald Trump vs Joe Biden. Round two. What was scheduled as the third presidential debate goes ahead on 22 October at 9 p.m. ET. This final head to head between the candidates before the election on 3 November comes after the second debate was cancelled due to Trump’s infection with coronavirus. That debate was scheduled for Thursday, 15 October, but after the current president refused to do a virtual debate (saying “”) the two candidates went ahead with town halls, Biden on ABC, Trump on NBC News.
The first debate was a chaotic affair, due to Trump’s complete and utter inability to follow the rules - constantly interrupting and provoking his Democrat counterpart to tell him to “shut up, man”, “stop yapping” and “you’re the worst president there’s ever been.”
The final debate is going to follow the rules for the first and the expectation is that Trump behaves exactly as in the first debate, leading to far more heat than light over the candidate’s positions. As was clear from the town halls, Trump’s approach continues to be angry and confrontational, while Biden, allowed to speak, is keen to focus on policy and solutions to the problems facing America.
Here’s the lowdown on the final debate between Trump and Biden.
When is the final presidential debate?
The second and final presidential debate ahead of the election on 3 November will be on 22 October at 9 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. PT.
Where is the second debate between Trump and Biden being held?
The debate will be held at Nashville's Belmont University. The institution is a private Christian university, whose motto is “From here to anywhere”.
This is only the second time Tennessee has hosted a presidential debate, the first was in 2008, between Barack Obama and John McCain, also at Belmont University.
Who is the moderator?
The moderator for the final debate will be NBC's Kristen Welker. She’s a White House correspondent for the Comcast-owned network and is well-versed in moderating from her work on shows such as Weekend Today and Meet the Press. Whether she will be able to control Trump is the million dollar question, of course.
Welker graduated from Harvard in ’98 with a history degree and has worked at ABC affiliate stations in Redding, California and Providence, Rhode Island. She was with the NBC affiliate in her hometown of Philadelphia before joining NBC News in 2010 where she became a White House correspondent a year later.
She was named 2020’s Outstanding Broadcast journalist at the Washington Women in Journalism Awards last month, and she won a National Emmy Award for her coverage of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crash.
What is the format for the debate?
The format for the final debate is the same as the first clash between the pair. Each segment answering one topic will last around 15 minutes, with each candidate getting two minutes to respond to the moderator’s question, before a deeper discussion on the subject.
What topics will Trump and Biden debate?
Biden and Trump will go head to head on the following topics:
- Fighting covid-19
- American Families
- Race in America
- Climate Change
- National Security
- Leadership
In the first debate the candidates answered questions directly on the coronavirus and race and touched on the other subjects.
Curiously, what the polls say is the number one issue for voters - the economy - is not a subject in its own right, but expect it to be thoroughly debated as we go through the other topics.