Trump vs. Biden: These presidential debates made history

The countdown to the duel has begun. On Friday night German time, US President Joe Biden and his challenger Donald Trump will meet in Atlanta for the first of two presidential debates. It will be the first time in four years that both men will be in the same room. The last time the two saw each other was during their heated TV debate in October 2020.

A lot has changed since then. The United States has experienced a pandemic, the storming of the Capitol, a controversial abortion ruling, high inflation and involvement in two global conflicts, Ukraine and Gaza. Trump is now a convicted criminal, found guilty of 34 counts by a New York court. And Biden joins the list of the most unpopular presidents. In most polls, he is just behind Trump.

There is a lot at stake for both candidates on Thursday. A look at history shows that it would not be the first time that a televised debate has been the deciding factor in a close race.

Millions of viewers want to watch the TV duel

For decades, presidential debates have been an integral part of the American election campaign. They offer candidates a chance to strengthen their public perception and convince undecided voters with their political visions for the country. They are often the largest audience for their campaigns. Around 73 million people watched the first Biden-Trump debate in the run-up to the 2020 election. A number that could be surpassed on Thursday.

There is great interest in the highly polarized election campaign. Around 60 percent of people said in surveys that they wanted to watch the TV debate. The debate, moderated by CNN journalists, will be broadcast simultaneously on more than five channels. Large-scale watch parties are planned in New York, Houston and Los Angeles.

The debate is important for undecided voters

Historians say presidential debates are most important when there is no clear frontrunner in the polls and undecided voters still make up a large portion of the electorate. Both of these could be true this year.

In most national polls, Trump is one percentage point ahead of Biden. Around ten percent of voters say they are still undecided. The situation is reminiscent of the close race between George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000. Back then, a few hundred votes in Florida made the difference.

Biden and Trump are among the most unpopular presidents

For Biden, the TV debate offers an opportunity to remind voters of the chaos of the Trump years and to draw a stark contrast between the “convicted felon” and himself. Trump will try to woo an audience outside his MAGA bubble and convince viewers why the US has become more expensive, weaker and more dangerous under his successor.

But the early clash also entails considerable risks. Biden and Trump are not only the oldest candidates to ever take part in a presidential election campaign. They are also by far the least popular. More than half of Americans (53 percent) have a negative opinion of Trump, and in the case of Biden, the figure is even two percentage points higher. In addition, the early debate date increases the focus on small details. Moments such as a conspicuous misstep, a physical stumble or a mental lapse could resonate for months. Especially since the period until the second debate in September is unusually long.

And these are the scenes that could go down in history.

In the first televised debate in 1960, a confident Senator John F. Kennedy dominated a sweaty and exhausted-looking Vice President Richard Nixon. In 1992, President George HW Bush squandered his chances when he impatiently glanced at his watch in front of the cameras. And in 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama turned a derogatory comment by John McCain into a successful campaign slogan.

It’s the little moments that can make all the difference in the end.

A look back at the most significant TV debates in American election history.