Donald Trump set to clash with Joe Biden over Supreme Court nomination and mail-in voting at first face-off, moderator Chris Wallace announces in revealing presidential debate topics
Chris Wallace has chosen six topics, including the Supreme Court and mail-in voting, for the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden, the nonpartisan commission organizing the debates announced Tuesday.
Trump and Biden will spar for 90 minutes next Tuesday in the first of three debates.
Wallace, who is a host on Fox News but is known for his at-times harsh grillings of Trump, picked the topics for the Cleveland, Ohio debate.
The Fox News host has repeatedly asked Biden to join him for an interview, but has not been successful thus far.
The six topics, divided into separate segments, include the Supreme Court, coronavirus pandemic, voting integrity, 'race and violence in our cities,' economy and their track records.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden will spar for 90 minutes on six different topics at the first presidential debate next Tuesday – including the Supreme Court and mail-in voting
The first debate's moderator, Fox News host Chris Wallace – known for grilling Trump and constantly being denied interviews with Biden – chose the topics
The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement that the six segments will last 15 minutes each.
This will be the first debate in a presidential campaign season upended by a pandemic that has complicated plans to hold in-person voting, killed more than 200,000 Americans and thrown millions out of work.
It also comes as Democrats and Republicans prepare to clash as Trump said Tuesday he will announce his Supreme Court nominee on Saturday.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday at the age of 87 from complications from her battle with pancreatic cancer.
The race by Trump and Republicans to fill her seat before the election November 3 has become a major campaign focus, with the prospect of a 6-3 conservative majority galvanizing voters in both parties.
Trump has demanded that Biden release his list of who he would nominate if he were given the chance, as the president released his own list even before Ginsburg's death.
Biden has said that he does not plan to release a list, which Republicans say is a sign that it would likely be a very progressive prospect.
Tuesday's debate comes as a seat on the Supreme Court has been vacated after liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died Friday from pancreatic cancer
Tuesday's matchup will be the candidates' first in-person debate, and comes as early voting is already under way in several states.
The format is intended 'to encourage deep discussion of the leading issues facing the country,' the debate organizers said, adding that subjects could change as news develops.
Trump and Biden will have a limited audience in person due to the pandemic but are expected to draw millions of viewers to watch commercial-free on television.
Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic are hosting the debate on their shared campus in Cleveland.
Trump and Biden are due to debate twice more before the election – in Miami, Florida on October 15 and Nashville, Tennessee on October 22.