WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - With just 34 days remaining for Americans to vote for the country's next leader, the stage is all set for the first of the three socially distanced presidential debates to take place.
Moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, the debate will kick off at 9 PM ET on Tuesday.
There will be six segments of approximately 15 minutes each with no commercial breaks.
According to debates.org, the moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic.
The segments are President Donald Trump's and Joe Biden's records; Supreme Court; Coronavirus pandemic; Race protests and violence in cities; Election integrity; and Economy.
Wallace, who was the moderator at the 2016 presidential debate too, said the topics are subject to change based on news developments and won't necessarily come in this order.
This will be the first time that the Republican and Democrat candidates will be meeting on the debate stage since the campaign started several months ago.
Trump has reportedly refrained from traditional debate preparations and practice sessions, while Biden engaged in mock debate sessions and participated in huddles with top aides.
'I'm prepared to go out and make my case as to why I think he's failed and why I think the answers I have to proceed will help the American people, the American economy and make us safer internationally,' Biden said about his strategy in the upcoming debate.
Trump was trailing Biden in recent polls, and there's no evidence that debates lead to wide swings in public opinion.
The second presidential debate, a town hall, is scheduled for October 15, and the third debate will be held on October 22.
The lone vice presidential debate is set for October 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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