2020 United States presidential debates
The 2020 United States presidential debates between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the major candidates in the 2020 United States presidential election, were sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. There were three initially planned scheduled debates. The first debate took place on September 29, 2020. The next debate was scheduled to take place on October 15 but was later canceled due to Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis and refusal to appear remotely rather than in person.[4] As a result, 2020 had the fewest debates since 1996.[5] The final debate took place on October 22. Additionally, a debate between the vice presidential candidates Mike Pence and Kamala Harris took place on October 7.[6]
Background[edit]
On October 11, 2019, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) announced that it would host three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate.[7][8]
In 2019, Trump claimed that the 2016 debates were "biased", and suggested that he may not participate in further CPD-hosted debates. In December 2019, Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., the co-chairman of the CPD, met with Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign chairman, to discuss Trump's comments. Fahrenkopf said "the president wanted to debate, but they had concerns about whether or not to do it with the commission."[9] While Trump did not press the issue further publicly, in June 2020, he requested additional debates to the traditional three, which Biden's campaign declined.[10] At the end of June, representatives of the Biden campaign confirmed that they had agreed to the original schedule.[11]
The Trump campaign submitted a request to the CPD to move the scheduled debates up in the calendar, or to add a fourth debate in relation to mail-in voting; the request was declined in August 2020.[12] Later that month, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi suggested that Biden should skip the debates, claiming that Trump will "probably act in a way that is beneath the dignity of the presidency". Biden responded by stating that he would go ahead and participate to "be a fact-checker on the floor while [...] debating [Trump]".[13]
In order to qualify for the debates sponsored by the CPD, presidential candidates had to meet the following criteria; vice-presidential candidates qualify by being the running mate of a qualifying presidential candidate:[14]
Presidential debate
September 29, 2020
95 minutes
Health Education Campus (HEC) Samson Pavilion at Case Western Reserve University
October 7, 2020
90 minutes
October 15, 2020
(canceled)
October 22, 2020
93 minutes