President Joe Biden will deliver his closing statement first in the upcoming presidential debate, giving former President Donald Trump the last word, CNN announced Thursday.
Biden’s campaign won the coin toss that would allow a candidate to choose either their closing statement order or their podium position during the Thursday face-off in Atlanta. The president selected the right podium, positioning himself on the right of viewers’ television screens and Trump on the left, leaving his Republican rival to opt to go second during closing statements at the end of the 90-minute broadcast.
Each candidate’s lectern will be supplied with a pen, a pad of paper and a water bottle, while pre-written notes and props will be prohibited, according to rules agreed upon by both campaigns last week.
The podium positions will be identical to the candidates’ placements during both 2020 debates. But this will be the first of their matchups in which Trump delivers the final statement — though he interrupted Biden’s closing remarks during their September 2020 debate.
Beyond podium placement and details about closing remarks, several rules announced over the weekend appear designed to prevent a repeat of that hostile first meeting. Candidates will not deliver opening statements, diving straight into answering questions from the moderators, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. They will have two minutes each for answers, one minute for rebuttals and one minute for responses to the rebuttals.
In addition, no audience will be present — a demand of the Biden campaign which deprives Trump of an environment that has previously allowed him to inflate his presence. CNN will mute microphones to avoid interruptions between turns and place two commercial breaks in the 90-minute broadcast. The network also strictly enforced its rules for qualifying for the stage, which Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate, failed to reach.
