In a break from tradition, this year’s first presidential debate is being hosted by CNN, the cable news channel, rather than the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
CNN has set out its own rules and format for the 90-minute showdown, which will air with just two commercial breaks.
The candidates, whose microphones will be muted when they are not speaking, will be given two minutes for answers and one minute for rebuttals.
Both candidates will appear behind a podium, and their positions on stage were determined by a coin flip — Joe Biden’s campaign won the coin toss and elected for the incumbent president to stand on the right-hand side of viewers’ screens.
Microphones will also be muted throughout the debate unless it is a candidate’s turn to speak — a move intended to clamp down on candidates interrupting or speaking over one another, something that happened frequently both in 2020, when Biden and Trump previously faced off on a debate stage.
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