2020 United States presidential debates
Updated: 5/20/2026, 7:37:15 PM Wikipedia source
The 2020 United States presidential debates were a series of debates held during the 2020 presidential election. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a bipartisan organization formed in 1987, organized three debates among the major party candidates, and sponsored two presidential debates and one vice presidential debate. Only Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden met the criteria for inclusion in the debates, and thus were the only two to appear in the debates. The vice presidential debate took place between their respective vice presidential running mates, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. There were three initially planned scheduled presidential debates. The first presidential debate took place on September 29, 2020. The next presidential debate was scheduled to take place on October 15 but was later canceled due to Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis and refusal to appear remotely rather than in person. As a result, 2020 had the fewest debates since 1996. The final presidential debate took place on October 22, 2020. Additionally, a vice presidential debate took place on October 7, 2020.
Infobox
Nominee
Mike Pence
Party
Republican
Home state
Indiana
Tables
· Debate list
No.
No.
2020 United States presidential election debates
No.
2020 United States presidential election debates
Date and time
2020 United States presidential election debates
Host
2020 United States presidential election debates
Location
2020 United States presidential election debates
Moderator
2020 United States presidential election debates
Participants
Key:
P Participant
Key:
P Participant
2020 United States presidential election debates
Key:
P Participant
2020 United States presidential election debates
Republican
2020 United States presidential election debates
Democratic
President
Donald Trump
of Florida
President
Donald Trump
of Florida
2020 United States presidential election debates
President
Donald Trump
of Florida
2020 United States presidential election debates
Vice President
Joe Biden
of Delaware
1
1
2020 United States presidential election debates
1
2020 United States presidential election debates
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
9:00 p .–10:30 p . EDT
2020 United States presidential election debates
Case Western Reserve University
2020 United States presidential election debates
Cleveland, Ohio
2020 United States presidential election debates
Chris Wallace of Fox
2020 United States presidential election debates
P
2020 United States presidential election debates
P
2
2
2020 United States presidential election debates
2
2020 United States presidential election debates
Thursday, October 15, 2020
9:00 p .–10:30 p . EDT
2020 United States presidential election debates
Arsht Center
2020 United States presidential election debates
Miami, Florida
2020 United States presidential election debates
Steve Scully of C-SPAN
2020 United States presidential election debates
Canceled
3
3
2020 United States presidential election debates
3
2020 United States presidential election debates
Thursday, October 22, 2020
9:00 p .–10:30 p . EDT
2020 United States presidential election debates
Belmont University
2020 United States presidential election debates
Nashville, Tennessee
2020 United States presidential election debates
Kristen Welker of NBC
2020 United States presidential election debates
P
2020 United States presidential election debates
P
| 2020 United States presidential election debates | |||||||||||||||
| No. | Date and time | Host | Location | Moderator | Participants | ||||||||||
| Key: P Participant | Republican | Democratic | |||||||||||||
| President Donald Trump of Florida | Vice President Joe Biden of Delaware | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Tuesday, September 29, 2020 9:00 p .–10:30 p . EDT | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, Ohio | Chris Wallace of Fox | P | P | |||||||||
| 2 | Thursday, October 15, 2020 9:00 p .–10:30 p . EDT | Arsht Center | Miami, Florida | Steve Scully of C-SPAN | Canceled | ||||||||||
| 3 | Thursday, October 22, 2020 9:00 p .–10:30 p . EDT | Belmont University | Nashville, Tennessee | Kristen Welker of NBC | P | P | |||||||||
· Debate list
No.
No.
2020 United States vice presidential debate
No.
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Date and time
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Host
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Location
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Moderator
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Participants
Key:
P Participant
Key:
P Participant
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Key:
P Participant
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Republican
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Democratic
Vice President
Mike Pence
of Indiana
Vice President
Mike Pence
of Indiana
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Vice President
Mike Pence
of Indiana
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Senator
Kamala Harris
of California
VP
VP
2020 United States vice presidential debate
VP
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
9:00 p .–10:30 p . EDT
2020 United States vice presidential debate
University of Utah
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Salt Lake City, Utah
2020 United States vice presidential debate
Susan Page of USA Today
2020 United States vice presidential debate
P
2020 United States vice presidential debate
P
| 2020 United States vice presidential debate | |||||||||||||||
| No. | Date and time | Host | Location | Moderator | Participants | ||||||||||
| Key: P Participant | Republican | Democratic | |||||||||||||
| Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana | Senator Kamala Harris of California | ||||||||||||||
| VP | Wednesday, October 7, 2020 9:00 p .–10:30 p . EDT | University of Utah | Salt Lake City, Utah | Susan Page of USA Today | P | P | |||||||||
· September 29: First presidential debate (Case Western Reserve University) › Reception and aftermath
Outlet
Outlet
Debate winner
Outlet
Debate winner
Biden
Debate winner
Trump
Debate winner
Not sure
CNN/SSRS
CNN/SSRS
Debate winner
CNN/SSRS
Debate winner
60%
Debate winner
28%
Debate winner
12%
CBS News
CBS News
Debate winner
CBS News
Debate winner
48%
Debate winner
41%
Debate winner
11%
| Debate winner | |||
| Outlet | Biden | Trump | Not sure |
| CNN/SSRS | 60% | 28% | 12% |
| CBS News | 48% | 41% | 11% |
broadcast network
broadcast network
cable news network
broadcast network
| cable news network |
| broadcast network |
FNC
FNC
Network
FNC
Viewers
17,812,000
ABC
ABC
Network
ABC
Viewers
12,620,000
NBC
NBC
Network
NBC
Viewers
9,666,000
CNN
CNN
Network
CNN
Viewers
8,287,000
MSNBC
MSNBC
Network
MSNBC
Viewers
7,189,000
CBS
CBS
Network
CBS
Viewers
6,379,000
Fox
Fox
Network
Fox
Viewers
5,436,000
| Network | Viewers |
| FNC | 17,812,000 |
| ABC | 12,620,000 |
| NBC | 9,666,000 |
| CNN | 8,287,000 |
| MSNBC | 7,189,000 |
| CBS | 6,379,000 |
| Fox | 5,436,000 |
References
- Trump's official state of residence was New York in the 2016 election but changed to Florida when his permanent residenc
- Politicohttps://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/31/trump-florida-residence-063564
- "What will happen to the debates? Trump's diagnosis throws schedule into limbo"https://fox2now.com/news/national/what-will-happen-to-the-debates-trumps-diagnosis-throws-schedule-into-limbo/
- Deadline Hollywoodhttps://deadline.com/2020/10/donald-trump-joe-biden-debate-1234594925/
- Politicohttps://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/07/vp-debate-2020-what-to-watch-427305
- debateshttps://www.debates.org/about-cpd/overview/
- The Commission on Presidential Debateshttps://www.debates.org/2019/10/11/commission-on-presidential-debates-announces-sites-and-dates-for-2020-general-election-debates-and-2020-nonpartisan-candidate-selection-criteria/
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/24/us/politics/trump-presidential-debate.html
- "Biden campaign agrees to 3 debates with Trump and slams push for more as 'distraction'"https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/22/politics/biden-trump-debates/index.html
- The New York Timeshttps://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-06-22/joe-bidens-campaign-commits-to-3-presidential-debates
- The New York Timeshttps://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/us/politics/presidential-debates-trump-biden.html
- The Hillhttps://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/513944-pelosi-says-there-shouldnt-be-presidential-debates-in-2020
- debateshttps://www.debates.org/2019/10/11/commission-on-presidential-debates-announces-sites-and-dates-for-2020-general-election-debates-and-2020-nonpartisan-candidate-selection-criteria/
- debateshttps://www.debates.org/2020/08/28/commission-on-presidential-debates-announces-polls-to-be-used-in-2020-candidate-selection-criteria/
- "Media"https://www.debates.org/media/
- The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/08/14/presidential-debates/
- NBC Newshttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/notre-dame-withdraws-2020-presidential-debate-host-citing-coronavirus-threat-n1235029
- Cleveland Clinic Newsroomhttps://newsroom.clevelandclinic.org/2020/07/27/case-western-reserve-and-cleveland-clinic-to-host-first-presidential-debate-tuesday-sept-29-in-health-education-campus-samson-pavilion/
- Deadline Hollywoodhttps://tvline.com/2020/09/02/presidential-debate-moderators-chris-wallace/
- The Washington Posthttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-tested-positive-for-coronavirus-before-first-debate-with-biden-former-chief-of-staff-says/2021/12/01/a728d080-52b7-11ec-8769-2f4ecdf7a2ad_story.html