US President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump began their first debate of a highly tense presidential election on Thursday. The two men went to sit down, standing, each behind a lectern without shaking hands.
This first face-to-face between Donald Trump et Joe Biden is being held in Atlanta, Georgia, one of the states most likely to weigh in the November election.
It is organized by the CNN channel and hosted by two of its journalists, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. It is up to them to enforce the very strict rules of a show that is held without an audience, with timed exchanges and, above all, a microphone systematically cut off for the candidate whose turn it is to speak.
Although their impact on the vote often remains limited, these meetings are highlights of the electoral campaign, since the first televised tête-à-tête organized more than 60 years ago, in Chicago, between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.
Usually, candidates for the White House wait until the fall to debate, but the Democrat challenged his rival to face him before the summer. A second debate is planned on ABC on September 10, two months before this explosive election.
Read more on RFI
