Former US President Donald Trump has arrived in Philadelphia for the eagerly anticipated TV duel with Vice President Kamala Harris. The Republican presidential candidate landed at the airport in the largest city in the state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday a good two hours before the debate began. Harris, President Joe Biden’s Democratic nominee, has been in Philadelphia since Monday.
Almost two months before the presidential election, the two candidates will compete against each other on Tuesday in their first and probably only TV duel. The 90-minute debate will be hosted by ABC in Philadelphia and will begin at 9 p.m. (local time, Wednesday, 3 a.m. CEST).
Important topics in the debate are likely to be economic and migration policy, but the abortion issue and foreign policy are also likely to be discussed, as well as the criminal proceedings pending against Trump for election manipulation. The two candidates have never met in person. For Harris it is the first TV duel, for Trump, who is running for the third time in a presidential election, the seventh.
There is a lot at stake; some TV duels have decided the US presidential election. In the case of outgoing incumbent Joe Biden, his failure in the duel with Trump on June 27th meant the end of his plan to move into the White House for another four years despite his old age.
The rules for the TV battle are meticulously defined. The microphone will be muted for the candidate whose turn it is. The duel starts immediately without opening statements, but there will be closing statements for which the candidates have two minutes each.
The candidate has two minutes to answer, and two minutes are then given for a reply. The opponents each stand behind a podium and are only given a pen, a writing pad and a bottle of water.
There will be no spectators in the room; Two commercial breaks are planned, during which employees from the campaign teams are not allowed to speak to the candidates.