WASHINGTON — It’s time for an embarrassing, must-see piece of primetime television.
That’s the biggest takeaway from a series of interviews by the USA Today Network with voters in battleground states across the country who say they expect little new to come out of the first 2024 presidential debate on Thursday night, but are still eager to see how the two veteran candidates from the major parties in the US presidential election fare.
Tonight’s debate, much earlier in the election season than usual and with different debate rules, will be one of the few opportunities for the public to see the candidates side-by-side for an extended period before Election Day, allowing voters to judge for themselves not only their political positions but also the energy and intelligence of each candidate.
Republican front-runner Donald Trump, who turned 78 earlier this month, and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, 81, stand in an empty room at a CNN studio in Atlanta and are questioned by two CNN anchors, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, their microphones muted unless it is their turn to speak.
Biden and Trump are vying for a tiny slice of the electorate, who have yet to make up their minds about two men who have served two consecutive presidential terms and captured the public eye for decades. For the candidates, it’s a rematch of the disastrous first debate in 2020, which was marked by bitterness and anger as the candidates constantly interrupted each other during a national lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even Thursday night’s moderator called it a “total mess.”
Prepare to vote: See who’s running for president and compare their positions on key issues with our Voter Guide
Embarrassing or not, the debate is expected to be one of the most-watched TV shows of the year — in 2020, Biden and Trump’s first debate drew 73.1 million viewers — and because it’s 2024, those who missed it will have ample opportunity to find it on their phones, social media and cable news in the coming weeks.
Why should you see it?
Voters in five of the 2024 presidential primary battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — said in interviews ahead of the debate that they want to hear Trump and Biden discuss specific policies on housing, immigration, LGBTQ issues and infrastructure. But they also don’t expect the debate to go deep enough to help them choose president. “I don’t think it’s going to make up my mind. It’s just a matter of whether I can fit it into my schedule when it comes on while I’m flipping through the channels,” said Brooke Hock, of the Milwaukee area. “I hope it’s over soon.”
Stacey Wallace, 49, a business analyst in Atlanta, said she will probably watch the debate at home with a beer. She sees the debate as an informational outlet but isn’t excited about a Biden-Trump matchup.
“I’ll be honest with you, I think it’s going to be a terrible show,” he said, “but it’s probably going to be entertaining.”
Entertainment is the main reason he watches the debates. Wallace said he found the 2020 debates “awkward,” and he doesn’t expect this year’s debate to have a major impact on the decision he’s already made.
Gerald Guilbeault of Michigan said he would “reluctantly” watch the debate “not because I expect to learn anything new about the candidates’ positions, but mainly because I think it’s going to be a train wreck or car crash that you can’t look away from.”
Melissa Bloomfield, 43, a public relations professional in Atlanta, said she had no plans to watch this year’s debate and didn’t watch the 2020 one either.
“It really pisses me off. I can’t stand to see Donald Trump on TV or anywhere,” she said. “Nothing either of them has to say is going to change my mind at this point.”
Phoenix resident Alex Brown said he has already made up his mind and has no plans to watch the debate.
“I really don’t want to see two old guys fighting,” Brown said.
RJ Danforth, 19, of Scottsdale, Arizona, said he wished a younger candidate had taken the stage. He said he plans to vote for Biden.
“I’ll probably have it playing in the background, so I’ll be paying attention, but it’ll be in the back of my mind,” Danforth said.
Some suspect there are still many voters left undecided at this point. “Anyone who can’t tell the difference between Trump and Biden must be living in naivety,” said one Michigan voter, Bob Gutowski.
How will they act?
Brianna Schwartz, 30, a Democrat who lives in Royal Oak, Michigan, wants to know where Biden and Trump stand on these issues and if they know the details, but she’ll also be interested to see if they communicate their positions rather than just shouting at each other.
“Are they speaking eloquently, respectfully and confidently, or are they just hurling insults and acting immaturely?” she said.
Eric Wolf of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, said he is leaning toward Robert Kennedy Jr., an independent running against Trump and Biden who did not qualify for CNN’s presidential debates. But Wolf said he thinks Kennedy’s chances are slim and that he will ultimately vote for Biden in the November debates, and he wants to watch the debate to gauge the incumbent president’s demeanor. “I really want to see how Joe Biden settles, how Trump antagonizes him, how he responds, gets annoyed,” Wolf said.
Deb Spirko, a 71-year-old Democrat from Erie County, Pennsylvania, said she expected few surprises from Biden.
Spirko, who has voted in every presidential election since turning 18 in 1972, said the president will be “careful and knowledgeable in what he says” and will probably make a gaffe or two.
But Biden proved he has the “stamina and clarity of mind” for the job during his State of the Union address in March, and if he can repeat that performance he might have a chance to win over skeptical voters in the debate, she said.
As for Trump, Spirko said he doesn’t think the former president will do anything differently from past debates.
“The only time I’d be surprised by him is if he comes prepared, knowledgeable, consistent and in control of his actions,” she said. “He’s subverted every other norm, and I fully expect the debates to follow that same subversive pattern.”
Erie County Republican Party Chairman Tom Eddy said he doesn’t think the race will change much once Biden and Trump finish the debate.
But there’s more at stake for Biden, the Republican chairman said, even going so far as to suggest that the timing of the debate before the convention gives Democrats time to replace him if he performs poorly.
Eddy said Biden, 81, has the advantage of having low expectations, similar to those before the State of the Union. Biden will need to repeat that performance to prove he is capable of serving another four years as president, Eddy said.
“It’s crucial for him to demonstrate that he’s physically capable,” Eddy said. “My instinct is this is more of an audition for Biden than anything else.”
While Trump is not that far behind Biden in age, Eddy said the former president remains energetic, citing Trump’s 90-minute speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Path to the Majority conference in Washington, D.C. on Saturday.
He expects Trump to use the debate to lay out his vision for the next four years, particularly on the economy, energy policy and immigration, but he wants the former president to avoid talking about the 2020 election and ignore Biden’s attacks on Trump’s character.
“I’m pretty sure he’s going to bring up the fact that (Trump) has been convicted of a felony,” Eddy said, referring to the 34 felony convictions following the recent hush money trial. “They’ve structured this whole thing, in a way, to prevent Trump from refuting any part of it by having his microphone cut.”
