When Donald Trump and Joe Biden take to the debate stage on Thursday night, it will be a reunion of sorts – although not exactly a friendly one.
A current president has never before debated his predecessor, and the bad blood between these two men will be obvious on the CNN debate stage in Atlanta.
Trump never conceded the 2020 election to President Biden and days after his supporters attacked the US Capitol, he broke with tradition by refusing to attend his opponent’s inauguration.
The two men are now facing off again for the presidency and this debate will mark the first time in this election campaign that millions of Americans are sitting up and paying attention.
The stakes are high and the tension in the room will be a notch above past tussles, as both men try to convince US voters that they deserve their ballot in November.
Thursday’s debate will also mark the first time that Joe Biden and Donald Trump have appeared together since their debates four years ago. The initial encounter in 2020 was an acrimonious affair, punctuated by repeated interruptions and Mr Biden’s frustrated “Will you shut up, man?” demand.
At the start of the second debate that year, delayed by Trump’s Covid diagnosis, the two men did not even shake hands.
This time, both men are out of practice. Neither has participated in any kind of debate in nearly four years, as Trump skipped the Republican primary debates on his way to becoming the party’s presumptive nominee earlier this year.
Source: BBC