The Presidential and Vice Presidential Debate Moderators Have Been Announced

Shannon Raphael - Author
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PUBLISHED Sep. 2 2020, 5:34 p.m. ET

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During the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in late August, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris were selected as the party nominees for the 2020 presidential election. One week later, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were, once again, placed on the ticket as the nominees for their party during the Republican National Convention (RNC).

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A series of debates between President Trump and Joe Biden will kick off beginning at the end of September. Further information about the debates has finally been released, including which figures will serve as moderators. 

Who are the debate moderators for 2020? Continue reading for the key information about the debates.

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Who are the debate moderators for the 2020 presidential debates?

In a press release posted on Sept. 2, the Commission on Presidential Debates co-chairs Dorothy S. Ridings, Kenneth Wollack, and Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr. confirmed the scheduling information and the identities of the moderators for the 2020 presidential debates. 

The first debate will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 29 at Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace will moderate the first debate. Wallace previously worked as a White House correspondent, as a Meet the Press host, and as the lead for NBC Nightly News. He also worked at ABC on Nightline and Primetime Thursday. 

The second presidential debate will take place on Thursday, Oct. 15 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Fla. 

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Steve Scully, the political editor and senior executive producer at C-SPAN, will moderate the second debate. He works as the Sunday host of Washington Journal, and he frequently contributes to various programs on C-SPAN. 

The format of the second debate is a town meeting style, which is when undecided voters in the South Florida area have the opportunity to ask the candidates questions. 

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The third and final presidential debate will occur on Thursday, Oct. 22 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn. Kristen Welker, who is one of the weekend anchors for Today and an NBC White House correspondent, will be the moderator for the final debate. 

The three co-chairs also released a statement about the selection of the moderators in their release about the events. 

"We are grateful to these experienced journalists, who will help ensure that the general election presidential debates continue to serve their unique educational purpose of helping the public learn about the candidates," they stated. "Each individual brings great professionalism to moderating and understands that the purpose of the 2020 debate formats is to facilitate in-depth discussion of major topics."

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Who is the moderator for the vice presidential debate?

In between the first and second presidential debates, Kamala Harris and Mike Pence will also go head-to-head to discuss their platforms. The VP debate will take place on Oct. 7 at the University of Utah, which is in Salt Lake City.

Susan Page will oversee the debate, and she is known as the Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today. Throughout her career, she has covered 10 elections. 

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She wrote a biography about former First Lady Laura Bush and is slated to write one for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. 

The format for the vice presidential debate is nine segments that will be approximately 10 minutes in length. The candidates will each have two minutes to answer questions posed by Page.

Election Day is Nov. 3. Register to vote at vote.gov and head to your state’s board of elections for details on requesting a mail-in or absentee ballot.

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