Joe Biden and Donald Trump will face off on stage in Atlanta, marking the first time in history that a sitting president and a former president will debate each other.
Of course, the two famously faced off in 2020, and while the same candidates will share the stage in Thursday’s election, the personalities and political climates are very different, posing new challenges for both.
Above all, this crucial rematch offers both sides a rare opportunity to dramatically change the trajectory of their campaigns heading into the final months of a closely contested election.
“I think this is going to be a historic, epic debate,” presidential historian Douglas Brinkley told ABC News. “In fact, with Trump and Biden, it’s the first time two former presidents have gone head-to-head against each other.”
What we learned from 2020
What Americans witnessed twice in 2020 – Biden and Trump going head-to-head for the first time for the White House – may offer a hint of what will happen around this time in 2024, he said in CNN’s studios on Thursday.
The first Biden-Trump debate of 2020 was a chaotic clash filled with personal attacks. Fox News host Chris Wallace loudly chastised the candidates for their frequent interruptions, most of which were made by Trump. At one point, Biden turned to his opponent and asked, “Can we just shut up?”
In contrast, the second meeting that year was more civil, with microphone muting capabilities in place and the candidates given more time to delve deeper into policy debates.
The big question on Thursday is which version American voters will see.
“I always like to watch how the candidates interact with each other,” said Alan Schroeder, a professor emeritus of journalism at Northeastern University who has written several books about presidential debates.
“In this case, there’s clearly a lot of animosity between the two of them, based on the debate history,” Schroeder said. “Plus, Trump is arguing that he didn’t lose the election, so there’s an undercurrent of animosity and it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the debate.”
The first debate of 2020 was poorly received by viewers and by Trump, with polls showing Biden emerging as the winner of both debates, giving a boost to his campaign.
Now the roles are reversed
Four years ago, it was Trump who had to defend his administration’s record and low polling ratings.
The burden will be on Biden to do the same this time.
Incumbents have historically struggled in the first debate of their reelection campaigns, Schroeder said, a trend that began with Ronald Reagan in 1984, followed by Barack Obama in 2012 and Trump in 2020.
Biden’s team is preparing, including a 90-minute mock debate at Camp David this week, to hold Trump accountable for comments he made on a range of topics from reproductive rights to the economy to democracy. Biden’s team is confident that the debate format — with muted microphones and no studio audience — will force Trump to address the issues.
Trump’s Republican allies say he too needs to focus on policy and be more disciplined. His preparations have also included private policy consultations with aides and experts.
A new challenge
For Trump, efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol continue to cast a shadow over his political goals. His historic conviction in New York state in connection with a hush-money scheme during the 2016 presidential election looms large with his sentencing just weeks away.
Additionally, his role in appointing the three Supreme Court justices who voted to invalidate Roe v. Wade continues to have a negative electoral impact on Republicans.
For Biden, low approval ratings on two key issues this election cycle: the economy (especially inflation) and immigration, have been a consistent challenge.
Though both are four years older than Trump, questions about their age and health have dogged Biden more than Trump.
Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who worked on Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012, said he was shocked that the candidates agreed to the debate, given the potential damage it could have on their campaigns.
“I’m surprised for a couple of reasons,” Madden told ABC News. “First, Trump has momentum and the debate gives his opponent an opportunity to shift that momentum. Second, there’s a lot of risk for Biden because he’s going against someone who doesn’t play by the rules and is consistently aggressive.”
Observers on both sides commented on what success would look like for each candidate.
Can Trump be punished?
“Right now, immigration and inflation are two of the issues that are stoking fears among voters, particularly those who are undecided,” Madden said. “So if Trump can really focus on those issues in this debate and show how he’s going to disrupt the status quo or reverse some of the trends on those issues, that would be a big win.”
For Biden, his energy and presentation — how he looks — may be as important as his policy message.
“Anywhere Biden is battling voters, the issue of age is going to come up,” said Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at the center-left think tank Third Way. “He’ll have an opportunity to answer that question here, and a good performance will go a long way toward reassuring voters.”
Kessler said Biden “needs to build on his advantages on health care and choice, get out of the economy and make progress on the border. That’s the challenge for the debate and the next few months.”
ABC News’ Selina Wang contributed to this report.
