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Moderators announced for 2020 political debates; here's what we know

Moderators announced for 2020 political debates; here's what we know
Posted at 12:28 PM, Sep 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-02 21:23:21-04

The moderators for the 2020 presidential and vice presidential debates have been announced.

The Commission on Presidential Debates announcedthe moderators Wednesday morning for the events this fall.

Chris Wallace, a host on Fox News, will moderate the first debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden on September 29. It will be held at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. This debate was originally scheduled to take place at the University of Notre Dame, however they withdrew citing coronavirus pandemic concerns.

Vice President Mike Pence will debate Senator Kamala Harris, the democratic vice presidential candidate, on October 7 in a debate moderated by Susan Page, the Washington Bureau Chief at USA Today. The one and only vice presidential debate will be held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Trump and Biden will face-off again on October 15, moderated by Steve Scully who is a political editor at C-SPAN, and on October 22 moderated by Kristen Welker, White House correspondent for NBC News.

The October 15 event will be held in Miami, after the University of Michigan withdrew citing coronavirus pandemic concerns. This debate format will be more like a “town meeting,” according to the commission and agreed to by both parties. Questions will be asked of both candidates by citizens in South Florida.

The last scheduled presidential debate is planned for Belmont University in Nashville.

At this time, all four debates are scheduled for 90 minutes. With the exception of the October 15 debate, the other events will be formatted to have the moderator asking questions and allowing the candidates 2 minutes to respond.

The segments and topics will be determined by the moderator and announced closer to the event date.