(KGTV) — For the second time in person and final time before the 2020 election, President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden will meet on the debate stage.
Thursday's debate is set to begin at 6 p.m. PST from Nashville, Tenn., with moderator Kristen Welker walking the candidates through topics including fighting COVID-19, American families, race in America, climate change, national security, and leadership.
The debate will also feature a format change introducing a "mute button," requiring that a candidates' microphone is turned off when their opponent is delivering his opening remarks for a given topic. The candidates' first meeting on stage was riddled with interruptions before topics reached the open discussion portion.
Thursday's debate comes after a flood of headlines out of the nation's capital that may impact the discussion on-stage:
- Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Supreme Court nomination to the Senate floor — a significant step that could allow the Senate to confirm her nomination as soon as Monday.
- A day after leaving in the middle of a 60 Minutes interview, the White House scooped CBS and published the full, unedited footage online.
- Weekly unemployment claims dipped below 800,000 for the first time in months, though those figures remain historically high.
- During a Fox News interview on Tuesday, Trump called on Attorney General William Barr to open a corruption investigation into Biden based on allegations surrounding a New York Post article about a laptop that may or may not have belonged to his son, Hunter.
Thursday was originally set to be the third in-person debate between Trump and Biden, however, individual town halls were held on different networks after the president declined to participate in a virtual debate following his positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
