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US President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will lock horns in the first presidential debate today, marking the countdown for the ultimate showdown later this year.
The debate hosted by CNN in Atlanta will take place at 9 pm on Thursday (local time) and 6:30 am on Friday in Indian Standard Time (IST).
It's the earliest ever in a presidential race, taking place before the Republican and Democratic conventions in July and August when both Trump and Biden will officially accept their party's nominations.
The showdown is scheduled to go 90 minutes with two commercial breaks. There will be no live studio audience: a major change from previous debates.
Polling shows over 70 per cent of American voters plan to tune in to the high-stake debate.
Notably, this is the first time, a sitting president and an ex-president will lock horns before millions of viewers, in an encounter taking place far earlier than normal.
President Joe Biden launched his re-election campaign in April 2023, describing the contest between him and Trump as a "stark choice" for voters between the continuation of democracy in America and its possible "destruction" under Trump.
He is the oldest president to ever hold office and would be 86 at the end of a second term. Polling shows that voters are far more concerned about Biden's age than his opponent's. But if Trump wins, he would break Biden's record as the oldest president before the end of his term.
Meanwhile, Trump launched his bid to reclaim the White House in November 2022. He aims to reclaim the White House after his bitter exit in 2020, as he looks forward to becoming only the second commander-in-chief to win two non-consecutive terms in office.
Notably, Trump continues to deny the 2020 election results. The former President also faces criminal charges in four cases, including two related to election interference and subversion of 2020 results.
Deeply divisive issues like immigration, gun laws and abortion also have stark positions from both leaders.