UCI Podcast: Review of first presidential debate of 2024

On Thursday, June 27, in Atlanta, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off in the first debate of the 2024 presidential election. The event marked the first debate in U.S. history between a sitting and former president and was the first time the presumptive nominees for their respective parties had been on a debate stage since 2020. Held months earlier than the usual tradition, it was also the first not coordinated by the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, bringing with it a new set of rules and guidelines. No studio audience was present for the 90-minute affair, which featured a pair of commercial breaks – another first. Candidates’ microphones were muted unless they were directed to speak by a moderator, and they were not allowed to bring any prewritten notes or props to their lecterns. What debate moments stood out, what happened that wasn’t expected, and where do the campaigns go from here? These are some of the questions asked of UC Irvine political scientists Louis DeSipio and Tony Smith in this episode of The UCI Podcast. “American Frontiers,” the music for this episode, was provided by Aaron Kenny via the audio library in YouTube Studio.