
CNN debate stage set with Trump and Biden going head-to-head
CNN
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set for a historic showdown, with the stage now set for CNN’s June 27 presidential debate.
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set for a historic showdown, with the stage now set for CNN’s June 27 presidential debate. The showdown will make history as the first debate between a sitting president and a former president. It will also be the first debate since 2020 featuring either Biden, who did not face a serious challenge for the Democratic nomination, or Trump, who skipped those held during the Republican primary race. The debate could be a defining moment in a presidential race that took shape earlier than usual and features two universally known candidates. A key departure from the two Biden-Trump debates of 2020, both of which were hosted by universities, is that the June 27 clash will have no studio audience. The debate qualification window closed at 12:00:01 a.m. ET on Thursday, with Biden and Trump meeting the constitutional, ballot qualification and polling thresholds set by the network. CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will host the 90-minute debate in Atlanta. Both candidates have accepted the network’s invitation and agreed to accept the rules and format of the debate, as outlined in letters sent to the campaigns by the network in May.

Over the past 10 days, Vice President JD Vance put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on notice, rattled the confidence of century-old allies in Western Europe during his first foreign trip, decamped to Capitol Hill to help in delicate budget talks and delivered a spirited defense of the Trump administration’s first month to a gathering of conservatives outside the nation’s capital.