The moderator list for the three 2020 Presidential Debates has been announced along with the moderator for the 2020 Vice Presidential debate. Fox News host Chris Wallace will be leading off the first debate on Sept. 29. Wallace will be followed by C-SPAN host Steve Scully who will serve as moderator for the second Trump-Biden debate on Oct. 22. The third and final Trump-Biden debate will be moderated by Kristen Welker of NBC News.
Susan Page, the Washington Bureau Chief at USA Today will moderate the Vice Presidential debate on Oct. 7.
First presidential debate
Chris Wallace, Anchor, Fox News Sunday
Tuesday, September 29, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Vice presidential debate
Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief, USA Today
Wednesday, October 7, The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Second presidential debate (town meeting)
Steve Scully, Senior Executive Producer & Political Editor, C-SPAN Networks
Thursday, October 15, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, FL
Third presidential debate
Kristen Welker, Co-Anchor Weekend TODAY, White House Correspondent, NBC News
Thursday, October 22, Belmont University, Nashville, TN
Debate Format
First presidential debate
The debate will be divided into six segments of approximately 15 minutes each on major topics to be selected by the moderator and announced at least one week before the debate.
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.
Vice presidential debate
The debate will be divided into nine segments of approximately 10 minutes each. The moderator will ask an opening question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic.
Second presidential debate
The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which the questions will be posed by citizens from the South Florida area. The candidates will have two minutes to respond to each question and there will be an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate further discussion. The town meeting participants will be uncommitted voters selected under the supervision of Dr. Frank Newport, Senior Scientist, Gallup.
Third presidential debate
The format for the debate will be identical to the first presidential debate.
Bookmark the 2020 Presidential Debate Schedule page for the latest details including start time, live stream, and ticketing information.
