ATLANTA (AP) — The first general election debate of the 2024 season kicked off Thursday evening in Atalanta, with U.S. President Joe Biden and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, squaring off as the candidates attempt to lure currently undecided voters. Biden, the Democratic incumbent, has the opportunity to reassure voters that, at 81, he’s capable of guiding the U.S. through a range of challenges. Meanwhile, the 78-year-old Trump could use the moment to try to move past his felony conviction in New York and convince an audience of tens of millions that he’s temperamentally suited to return to the Oval Office. Thursday’s debate in Atlanta marks at least a couple of firsts — never before have two White House contenders faced off at such advanced ages, and never before has CNN hosted a general election presidential debate.
Currently:
— How the Biden-Trump debate could change the trajectory of the 2024 campaign
— How to watch the presidential debate, which begins at 9 p.m. EDT
— Here’s what’s at stake for Biden and Trump in this week’s presidential debate
— A look at the false claims candidates may present mid-debate
— Most Americans plan to watch the Biden-Trump debate, and many see high stakes, an AP-NORC poll finds
Here’s the latest:
Trump opens debate by bragging about the state of the economy while he was in office
Donald Trump opened Thursday’s debate by bragging about the state of the economy while he was in office as well as his handling of the pandemic.
He said: “Everything was rocking good.
He also said the U.S. economy was ready to start paying down its national debt before the pandemic.
But that’s not true. Budget deficits were increasing under Trump because his 2017 tax cuts didn’t pay for themselves as he had promised they would. Trump inherited a budget deficit of $585 billion and it ballooned to $984 billion in 2019, only to climb above $3 trillion in 2020 after the pandemic hit, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget.
First question covers state of the U.S. economy
With the economy as the first issue of the debate, Joe Biden detailed what he described as an American economy “in freefall,” while Trump bragged about the state of the economy while he was in office, as well as his handling of the pandemic.
About 3 in 10 Americans said the economy was the most important problem facing the country in a May Gallup poll, but that included a range of economic issues.
About 1 in 10 pointed specifically to the high cost of living or inflation. About 2 in 10 Americans said immigration was the top problem facing the country, and another 2 in 10 said the government/poor leadership were the most important problem.
The debate begins
Thursday’s debate has begun with a recitation of the rules by the hosts, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. No audience is present.
President Joe Biden and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump both slowly walked to their respective podiums as they arrived on the debate stage. They did not shake hands.
Trump’s likely VP picks are in the building
The Republicans seen as Donald Trump’s most likely picks for his running mate will be among those speaking on his behalf to the media after Thursday’s debate.
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will be advocating for Trump in the post-debate analysis, according to a person familiar with the plan who was not authorized to speak publicly.
They’re all seen as being on Trump’s shortlist for a potential running mate and their performances tonight are expected to be a factor in their audition for the role.
Associated Press writer Michelle Price contributed to this report from Washington.
Biden drinks ‘MAGA Tears’ before the debate
President Joe Biden took a jab at Donald Trump’s insinuations that he’s using drugs to enhance his debate performance.
Biden posted photos on social media and a message that he’s been drinking a canned beverage called “Dark Brandon’s Secret Sauce.” It’s just water in a can, but the ingredient label notes Trump’s 34 felony convictions and stresses that the main ingredient in the aluminum can is “MAGA Tears.”
While Biden has tried not to dignify Trump’s criticisms, his campaign is now selling the canned water for $4.60 apiece. Biden noted that his wife, Jill, took the photos of him holding the beverage.
Biden has arrived at CNN
President Joe Biden has arrived at CNN in Atlanta for Thursday’s general election debate. He was accompanied by his wife Jill.
Ramaswamy says he hasn’t been asked, but would be ‘honored’ to serve in a Trump administration
Former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy says he hasn’t been asked by Trump to serve in an administration but says he’d be happy to do so.
Ramaswamy told reporters in the spin room ahead of the debate that he’d be “honored” to serve in some capacity, like White House chief of staff.
Ramaswamy also noted that he saw copious Trump supporters on his way to the debate and said the former president’s backers would “walk on hot coals” to support him.
The scene from downtown Atlanta
Outside the downtown hotel where President Joe Biden’s campaign is based, a crowd was waiting to watch the president depart for Thursday’s presidential debate. Some Biden campaign workers were giving away ice cream, in a nod to the president’s love for the frozen treat.
They were offering vanilla, chocolate and birthday cake flavors.
A crowd of supporters came out of the hotel to see Biden off to the debate, blowing horns, ringing cowbells and chanting “Let’s go Joe!” and “Four more years!”
CNN counts down
Even during commercials, CNN kept a countdown clock on its screen as Thursday’s presidential debate neared, along with a camera view of the near-empty studio where the two candidates would be.
It’s the network’s big moment. CNN’s Kate Bolduan took viewers on a tour of the stage, showing the lights that signal to the candidates how much time they have to talk, and when the mute button will turn their microphone off.
Several of the network’s personalities sat in the CNN “spin room,” recalling the first time Donald Trump and Joe Biden met in a debate four years ago. It was a less-than-pleasant memory for the moderator, Chris Wallace, who worked for Fox News back then and is now at CNN. Then-President Trump interrupted Biden so often that at one point the exasperated Democrat told him to shut up.
“I knew it was a disaster,” Wallace recalled.
Trump was relaxed on plane ride to Georgia, adviser says
Donald Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski flew to Georgia with the former president and said Trump was in a “good mood” ahead of Thursday’s general election debate.
Lewandowski said a “small footprint” of Trump’s inner circle was on the plane including top aides Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita.
Trump heard some last-minute advice, Lewandowski said, but was relaxed on the trip.
He also showcased the difficulty Republicans have had in setting expectations for President Joe Biden. At one point, Lewandowski told reporters that Biden “had to practice standing for 90 minutes.” But then Lewandowski noted Biden has “debated for 50 years” and should have a “good night.”
Trump has a modest enthusiasm advantage with his base
Donald Trump is going into tonight’s debate with more enthusiastic support from his GOP base than President Joe Biden has from Democrats. According to a new AP-NORC poll, 6 in 10 Republicans are extremely or very satisfied with Trump as a likely nominee, compared to about 4 in 10 Democrats who say they’re satisfied with Biden as a likely nominee.
But overall, Americans are displeased with their options.
According to the poll, most U.S. adults are “very” or “somewhat” dissatisfied with Biden (56%) being the Democratic Party’s likely nominee, and a similar majority (55%) of Americans are very or somewhat dissatisfied with Trump as the likely Republican Party nominee.
Most U.S. adults say they have a very or somewhat unfavorable view of Biden (57%), and about 6 in 10 (59%) have a very or somewhat negative view of Trump.
Republican representative raises concerns over how long Biden took to prep for the debate
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a Florida Republican, says he expects Biden to be prepared and do well in the 90-minute debate, but he argued Americans should be concerned that the 81-year-old president took so much time “away from the job” to prepare for the debate.
Donalds sidestepped questions about whether presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and Republicans have lowered expectations too much for Biden by casting him as an old man in decline.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom embraces his role in drumming up support for Biden
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is embracing his role as one of Biden’s top surrogates, talking up the president’s record and blasting Trump as “unserious and unhinged.”
It’s good practice for Newsom: He’s widely viewed as a future presidential candidate himself.
Newsom, who spoke to reporters in the spin room Thursday evening, said tonight’s debate matters because “everything is important” in a close election. But he said it won’t be determinative.
What about VP debates?
Donald Trump’s campaign has accepted an invitation from Fox News for his yet-to-be-chosen running mate to debate Vice President Kamala Harris, and he urged her to accept as well. In fact, Harris has already said she’ll debate — but on a rival network.
Fox News said in a statement it offered to host a VP debate on July 23, August 13 or a day after both party conventions. Harris’ team previously told CBS she would debate in-studio on the July or August dates Fox mentioned.
President Joe Biden’s campaign signaled it would reject Trump’s offer, an official pointing to the acceptable debate parameters it detailed earlier this week. Under those conditions, a Fox News-hosted debate would not qualify.
Trump’s post on his social media network came after Harris accepted a different invitation from CBS News.
CNN responds to request for an independent journalist to be present
CNN has responded to calls from the White House Correspondents’ Association to allow an independent print reporter into the studio during tonight’s presidential debate to send out behind-the-scenes reports. The network says the event is “closed to press” — meaning that outside journalists are not allowed access to it.
“As proud members of the White House Correspondents Association, we respect the role the organization plays and their support for press freedom and access,” CNN said in a statement. The debate was “being held without an audience in a CNN studio and is closed to press.”
Kennedy fell short of CNN’s requirements to participate in the debate
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. won’t be with his better-known rivals, U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, tonight in Atlanta.
CNN invited candidates who showed strength in four reliable polls and ballot access in enough states to win the presidency. Kennedy fell short on both requirements.
Aside from a livestreamed response to the debate, Kennedy has nothing on his public schedule for the coming weeks. Nor does his running mate, philanthropist Nicole Shanahan.
First Lady arrives in Georgia ahead of the debate
First Lady Jill Biden has arrived for the debate at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.
Her plane taxied past Air Force One where her husband had deplaned about 90 minutes earlier.
Like the president, Jill Biden was greeted by Democratic officials from metro Atlanta.
She then made a brief stop at a Biden-Harris fundraising retreat at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Atlanta, where she said of her husband: “I know Joe’s ready to go. He’s prepared; he’s confident. You’ve all seen him today. You know what a great debater he is. And good is on his side.”
Atlanta as debate backdrop
Atlanta is providing quite the backdrop for the first presidential debate of the 2024 general election.
In 2020, Georgia went into Joe Biden’s win column by 11,779 votes out of about 5 million cast. The city of Atlanta quickly became the epicenter of Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn Biden’s victory. Trump would later be indicted by a Fulton County grand jury after he was caught on tape pressuring GOP officials “to find 11,780 votes.”
He awaits trial at the downtown Atlanta courthouse, a few miles from CNN’s debate studio. Trump already had a complicated relationship with the city: In a 2017 feud with civil rights icon John Lewis, he cast Atlanta as “crime infested.”
Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, have campaigned often in and around Atlanta.
“Georgia is the reason I’m president right now,” Biden said at a May fundraiser.
Trump is changing his tune on Biden’s ability
After months of casting U.S. President Joe Biden as a senile shell of a man incapable of putting two sentences together, Donald Trump has changed his tune.
The former president and presumptive GOP nominee and his campaign are trying to adjust expectations amid concerns that Biden’s bar has been set so low that he is sure to exceed it. The effort to recalibrate expectations underscores the stakes for both men in a race that has appeared largely static for months.
Trump — who has never admitted he lost fairly to Biden in 2020 and continues to spread false and unproven theories about election fraud — may also be setting up a series of excuses in case he is outperformed by Biden during Thursday’s debate.
“Maybe I’m better off losing the debate,” Trump quipped in an interview with Real America’s Voice earlier in June. “I’ll make sure he stays. I’ll lose the debate on purpose, maybe I’ll do something like that.”
Trump and Biden’s preparations for debate night differ significantly
U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have taken starkly different approaches in preparing for their debate Thursday evening.
Biden had an intense period of private preparations at Camp David. The 81-year-old Democrat’s team is aware he cannot afford an underwhelming performance when he faces Trump.
The president’s aides have been reluctant to share details about his preparations, but they’ve signaled he’s preparing to be aggressive and wouldn’t shy away from using the term “convicted felon” to describe his opponent.
They expect aggressive attacks on Biden’s physical and mental strength, his record on the economy and immigration, and even his family.
Quentin Fulks, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, said that while the president will speak broadly to all Americans, he plans to “talk to Republican voters” specifically “because of who Donald Trump is and his extremism.”
Meanwhile, Trump, 78, largely remained on the campaign trail before heading to his Florida estate for two days of private meetings as part of an informal prep process.
Trump’s allies are pushing him to stay focused on his governing plans but expect him to be tested by pointed questions about his unrelenting focus on election fraud, his role in the erosion of abortion rights and his unprecedented legal baggage. The debate is being held just two weeks before Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on 34 felony counts in his New York hush money trial.
Although Trump’s advisors have refused to share any of his strategy, hours before the debate, Trump posted an image of what appeared to be debate talking points provided to him by Andrew Wheeler, former Environmental Protection Agency head, suggesting ways he should go after Biden on climate questions.
“Mr. President, I am sure that a climate question will come up during your debate this week and I suggest the following talking points,” Wheeler wrote.
The former president posted the talking points without comment.
No live audience
There is no live audience in the CNN studios where Donald Trump and U.S. President Joe Biden will debate on Thursday evening.
That means there is no red carpet stream of elected officials, campaign donors and leaders in Midtown Atlanta, and it makes for an unusual atmosphere around the debate site.
Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., is hosting a watch party and fundraiser elsewhere in metro Atlanta.
There’s a $10,000 get-in price, according to an invitation to the event, and several of Trump’s prospective running mates will be there. Trump may speak to attendees after the debate.
Georgia’s Republican and Democratic state parties are hosting their own watch parties too. Biden and first lady Jill Biden are scheduled to stop by the Democratic event late Thursday night.
Who are the moderators?
CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper will moderate the presidential debate between U.S. President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, and there’s a lot on the line for their network as it fights for relevance in a changing media environment.
CNN has hosted dozens of town halls and political forums through the years, but never a general election presidential debate, let alone one so early in a campaign. No network has.
“This is a huge moment for CNN,” said former CNN Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno, now a media and public affairs professor at George Washington University. “CNN has to reassert itself. It has to show that it led a revolution in news before and can do it again.”
The ground rules for this pr
esidential debate are unusual
The candidates have agreed to meet at a CNN studio in Atlanta, where each candidate’s microphone will be muted, except when it’s his turn to speak.
Additionally, no props or prewritten notes will be allowed onstage. The candidates will be given only a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
There will be no opening statements. A coin flip determined Biden would stand at the podium to the viewer’s right, while Trump would deliver the final closing statement.
Going without a live audience was important to the Biden campaign, but also to CNN. The network’s town hall with Trump in 2023 was panned in large part because of the presence of Trump partisans.
