2020 Presidential And Vice-Presidential Debates Dates Locations And Key Details

The 2020 election cycle included a series of debates between the presidential and vice-presidential candidates. These events were organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates and the Democratic National Committee. The schedule featured two presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate, while a planned second presidential debate was ultimately canceled. Information regarding these events is available through various media archives and informational repositories.

The Presidential Debates

The general election debates involved incumbent President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.

First Presidential Debate

The first presidential debate took place on September 29, 2020. It was held at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. The University of Notre Dame was originally scheduled to host but withdrew due to the coronavirus pandemic. Chris Wallace of Fox News moderated the 90-minute event. The debate was divided into six 15-minute segments covering specific topics: * The Trump and Biden records * The Supreme Court * COVID-19 * The economy * Race and violence in our cities * The integrity of the election

Canceled Second Presidential Debate

A second presidential debate was scheduled for October 15, 2020, in Miami, Florida, at the Adrienne Arsht Center. However, the Commission on Presidential Debates canceled this event on October 9, 2020. The cancellation followed a disagreement between the commission and the campaigns regarding the format and timeline. President Trump contracted COVID-19 and refused to participate in a virtual debate, which the commission had proposed.

Third Presidential Debate

The final presidential debate was held on October 22, 2020, at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Kristen Welker of NBC News served as the moderator. The debate was a 90-minute discussion covering a variety of topics. The commission announced that each candidate's microphone would be muted during the other candidate's two-minute opening remarks for each of the six segments. During open discussion periods, the microphones remained on. Both campaigns agreed to this rule. The topics for this debate included: * Fighting COVID-19 * American families * Race in America * Climate change * National security * Leadership

Belmont University hosted several thematically relevant events leading up to the debate, including "Belmont Celebrates the 19th Amendment," "Designing A Democracy," and "Rock The Vote."

The Vice-Presidential Debate

The sole vice-presidential debate occurred on October 7, 2020. It featured incumbent Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic Senator Kamala Harris. The event took place at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was moderated by Susan Page of USA Today. The candidates were given a combined 90 minutes to address questions on topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, policing, the economy, and climate change.

During the debate, Vice President Pence discussed his trust in the justice system regarding the Breonna Taylor case and stated there was no excuse for the rioting and looting following George Floyd’s death. He also criticized Senator Harris for her record on criminal justice reform in California and claimed Democrats had spent three years trying to overturn the 2016 election results. Furthermore, Pence argued that universal mail-in voting created opportunities for fraud.

Primary Election Debates

In addition to the general election debates, the Democratic National Committee held 11 presidential debates between June 2019 and March 2020 during the primary election season.

Sources

1. PBS NewsHour - Historic Debates
2. Belmont University - Debate 2020 Collection
3. Ballotpedia - Presidential debates, 2020