The day of the big debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has arrived. At what time and where can you follow this key event in the American presidential campaign? We take stock.
The evening promises to be rich in emotion across the Atlantic, where the first debate between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump is scheduled to take place. In the absence of a traditional presidential campaign – the previous Democratic candidate, incumbent President Joe Biden, having finally dropped out of the race last July – the two competitors had not yet been able to confront each other.
Hosted on ABC News, from the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Harris-Trump debate is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. local time, which is 3 a.m. in France. You will therefore need to set your alarm to follow the event live. It will be broadcast here, in the YouTube window provided below, but also on various French television channels, such as France 24, BFMTV and LCI. The debate is scheduled to last 90 minutes. However, it should be interspersed with commercials, which will slightly extend the viewing time. Note that on French news channels, special programs are being organized and should allow experts on American politics to decipher the exchanges in the process.
While the debate should not lack spice, given the casting and the stakes, many rules established between the Trump and Harris camps will still frame things. No opening remarks, 2 minutes to conclude at the end of the debate, microphones turned off when the candidates do not have the floor, no props or pre-written notes or even, no questions asked between candidates… The debate should nevertheless be a little more lively than the previous one which had pitted Joe Biden against Donald Trump.
Well-defined strategies
Kamala Harris says she is at a “fundamental disadvantage” against her rival. In order to ensure the debate can take place, she and her campaign have made concessions by agreeing to rules that they believe are favorable to Donald Trump. “Despite our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump may not participate in the debate, as he has previously threatened to do, if we do not accept his preferred format. We do not want to compromise the debate. That is why we have accepted all of the proposed rules,” reads a letter to ABC, relayed by BFMTV.
The reason: the microphones were turned off when the other candidate was speaking. A rule “that will serve to protect Donald Trump from direct exchanges,” believes the Democratic camp. The latter was probably counting on the aggressiveness shown by the billionaire in his campaign to take advantage of it during the debate. But the Republican Party instructed Donald Trump to be precisely “less aggressive” according to Pierre Bourgois, lecturer in political science at the Catholic University of the West, on the set of France 24. And “by cutting the microphones, Donald Trump will be able to position himself as much calmer, more peaceful”. He could also step out of his usual territory and leave aside personal attacks to go to that of ideas and challenge his rival on the substance. This positioning could be a way for Donald Trump to convince undecided voters, when conversely aggressive behavior could turn them away from him. Especially since Kamala Harris must defend the record of President Joe Biden, unlike the Republican who left the White House in 2021.
Detail the electoral programs
This debate is all the more important because it is the first – and possibly the last – between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The duel will be an opportunity for the Democratic candidate to detail her program. “We saw the interview she gave to CNN last week, for the moment, we are on relatively general, superficial considerations”, analyzes Pierre Bourgois. Kamala Harris made a good impression by placing the right to abortion, then the subject of purchasing power as priorities and by mentioning immigration to address moderate right-wing voters. But she must now clarify her remarks and defend the record of the past four years.
But this debate will above all be the moment for Kamala Harris to prove that she knows how to stand up to an incisive Donald Trump. “We don’t know how [Kamala Harris] is when she is cornered, when she is pushed into her entrenchments,” says Pierre Bourgois. Facing her, a regular on the sets, experienced in campaign debates. The billionaire has already multiplied the attacks on his competitor, for example by questioning her origins.
For now, the latest opinion polls show Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump neck and neck. Caution is all the more necessary since the American presidential election is being decided by indirect universal suffrage. The suspense is therefore at its height…