Biden and Trump will talk Supreme Court, COVID-19, and election integrity at 1st presidential debate

The first 2020 presidential debate is just a week away, and its topics have now been set.

The Commission on Presidential Debates on Tuesday announced that moderator Chris Wallace has selected six topics for the first debate between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, which is scheduled to take place on Sept. 29. The topics will be "the Trump and Biden records," "the Supreme Court," "COVID-19," "the economy," "race and violence in our cities," and "the integrity of the election."

The announcement said that these debate topics are subject to change based on "news developments," and they won't necessarily be brought up in that order.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

This highly-anticipated first debate face-off between Trump and Biden will be held at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, and it comes as Trump moves to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court prior to November's presidential election. Trump has said he will announce his Supreme Court nominee on Saturday, three days before the debate is scheduled to take place. The debate will also be occurring a week after the United States passed 200,000 deaths from COVID-19.

Fifteen minutes will be devoted to each of the debate's six topics, and the event is scheduled to last 90 minutes. The second debate is set for Oct. 15, while a third and final debate will take place on Oct. 22. There will be also be one debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Biden's running mate, on Oct. 7.