Getty The 2020 vice presidential debate hall at Kingsbury Hall of the University of Utah is seen October 6, 2020 in Salt Lake City, Utah. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris will face off.
Tonight is the vice presidential debate for the 2020 election, as Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris face off. Read on below for more details on exactly when you can tune in tonight on Wednesday, October 7, and not miss a thing.
The Debate Starts at 9 PM Eastern
Tonight’s debate begins at 9 p.m. Eastern time. But what does that translate to in other time zones? The debate will be simulcast live wherever you’re living here in the United States, so you won’t be behind anyone else even if you live in a different time zone. Of course, not all local channels may air the debate, but you can find it on channels like Fox and CNN.
This means that the debate will begin at:
- 8 p.m. Central time
- 7 p.m. Mountain time
- 6 p.m. Pacific time
- 3 p.m. Hawaii time
- 5 p.m. in Juneau, Alaska
If you want to see what time it starts in a specific city, you can check out the TimeAndDate listings here. Here are a few examples below of the time the debate starts in different cities in the U.S.
- Anchorage: 5 p.m.
- Boston: 9 p.m.
- Denver: 7 p.m.
- Detroit: 9 p.m.
- Honolulu: 3 p.m.
- Houston: 8 p.m.
- Los Angeles: 6 p.m.
- Miami: 9 p.m.
- Philadelphia: 9 p.m.
- Washington, D.C.: 9 p.m.
Tonight’s debate will last 90 minutes and end at 10:30 p.m. Eastern. You can watch it live in the stream below or at this link. There will be no commercial breaks tonight.
What to Expect Tonight & in the Coming Weeks
Susan Page, USA Today Washington Bureau Chief, is moderating tonight’s debate.
The debate is hosted by the University of Utah and it is being held at the Kingsbury Hall of the Nancy Peery Marriott Auditorium. When Harris and Pence debate, they will be separated by Plexiglass.
After tonight, the second presidential debate is currently scheduled for Thursday, October 15 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. The moderator for this debate will be Steve Scully of C-SPAN. This debate will be in a town hall type format. Although President Donald Trump has tested positive for COVID-19, he has said that he still plans to attend the debate. Former Vice President Joe Biden has said there shouldn’t be a second debate if Trump still tests positive, The Hill reported. He said the debate should follow all health protocols and he’ll ultimately follow the guidelines issued by the Cleveland Clinic, which is overseeing the debates.
Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami said that Trump shouldn’t come for the debate if he is still testing positive, Politico reported. Dr. Mary Jo Trepka of Florida International University told Politico that she would advise the campaigns to do a virtual debate, otherwise they should be separated in enclosed Plexiglass rooms with HEPA filtered air.
So far Biden has tested negative for coronavirus, but experts say the incubation period can sometimes take as long as two weeks.
The third presidential debate is scheduled for Thursday, October 22 at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. The moderator for this debate will be Kristen Welker of NBC.
Tonight’s debate will be divided into nine segments of 10 minutes each, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
READ NEXT: The latest COVID-19 deaths, cases, and updates