Kamala Harris vs. Donald Trump: Who will win in the TV duel?

Kamala Harris

Donald Trump

Anyone who wants to follow the debate live in this country will have to get up early: Because of the time difference, it will be 3 a.m. on Wednesday when Harris and Trump take the podium.

In Philadelphia, however, the candidate debate begins at 9 p.m. on Tuesday evening, prime time in the USA.

According to Marco Overhaus of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, this year’s debate could be particularly relevant. According to all polls, the race for the presidential nomination will be particularly close. A few 10,000 votes in seven swing states could decide the outcome of the election, said Overhaus in an interview with ZDFheute. This is despite the uncertainties that polls have weeks before the election.

Harris faces the challenge of defending her new substantive platform and shedding her “flip-flop image” as she tries to embody change despite being part of the current administration.

With Trump, it will be interesting to see whether he follows the advice of his adviser and focuses on key points of attack or whether he follows “his instinct” and focuses on personal attacks, possibly related to Harris’ skin color or gender.

Candidate Kamala Harris and candidate Donald Trump will each have two minutes to answer; they will then be given two minutes to reply, plus a further minute for any clarifications or questions. At the end, there will be two-minute closing statements, first Harris, then Trump.

The questions will be asked exclusively by two journalists from the US TV station ABC. As was the case during the Trump-Biden duel, there will be no spectators in the room.

In recent polls, Harris and Trump are virtually neck and neck, so both are trying to reach out to undecided voters in particular.

The candidates reach an audience of millions through the duels. Some experts therefore consider the major political events to be very important – also for the outcome of the election. However, Marco Overhaus from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs stressed in an interview with ZDF that “TV duels alone are not usually decisive in the election, but they set the tone for the further debate and mark the start of the hot election campaign phase.”