Liveblogging the first presidential debate of 2024 from the great Pacific Northwest

Good evening, and wel­come to NPI’s live cov­er­age of the first pres­i­den­tial debate of 2024. NPI staff will be watch­ing and shar­ing impres­sions of the debate between pre­sump­tive Demo­c­ra­t­ic nom­i­nee Joe Biden and pre­sump­tive Repub­li­can nom­i­nee Don­ald Trump as it pro­gress­es. The debate, host­ed by CNN, is being broad­cast on a num­ber of addi­tion­al chan­nels and net­works, includ­ing MSNBC and FNC.

The debate for­mat and rules are as follows:

The debate, which will be host­ed by CNN’s Jake Tap­per and Dana Bash in Atlanta on June 27, will mark the first in-per­son show­down of the 2024 cam­paign between Pres­i­dent Joe Biden and his pre­de­ces­sor, for­mer Pres­i­dent Don­ald Trump. Both can­di­dates have accept­ed the network’s invi­ta­tion and agreed to accept the rules and for­mat of the debate, as out­lined in let­ters sent to the cam­paigns by the net­work in May.

The 90-minute debate will include two com­mer­cial breaks, accord­ing to the net­work, and cam­paign staff may not inter­act with their can­di­date dur­ing that time.

Both can­di­dates agreed to appear at a uni­form podi­um, and their podi­um posi­tions will be deter­mined by a coin flip.

Micro­phones will be mut­ed through­out the debate except for the can­di­date whose turn it is to speak. While no props or pre-writ­ten notes will be allowed on the stage, can­di­dates will be giv­en a pen, a pad of paper and a bot­tle of water.

Some aspects of the debate – includ­ing the absence of a stu­dio audi­ence – will be a depar­ture from pre­vi­ous debates. But, as in the past, the mod­er­a­tors “will use all tools at their dis­pos­al to enforce tim­ing and ensure a civ­i­lized dis­cus­sion,” accord­ing to the network.

Biden and Trump were the only can­di­dates who met the qual­i­fi­ca­tion cri­te­ria; accord­ing­ly, Robert F. Kennedy and oth­ers will not be par­tic­i­pat­ing tonight.

Our live cov­er­age will begin below at the time the debate starts.