(Atlanta) US President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump began their first debate of a very high-tension presidential election on Thursday.
Posted at 3:08 p.m.
Updated at 9:12 p.m.
The two men went to sit down, standing, each behind a desk without shaking hands.
This first face-off is taking place in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the states most likely to weigh in the November election.
It is hosted by CNN and hosted by two of its journalists, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
The duel between the two men began at 9 p.m. on CNN.
It is up to them to enforce the very strict rules of a program which is held without an audience, with timed exchanges and above all, a microphone systematically cut off for the candidate whose turn it is not to speak.
Although their impact on the vote often remains limited, these meetings have been highlights of the electoral campaign, since the first televised face-to-face meeting organized more than 60 years ago in Chicago between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Typically, White House candidates wait until the fall to debate, but the Democrat challenged his rival to face him before the summer.
A second debate is scheduled on ABC on September 10, two months before the explosive election.
