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Harris-Trump debate live updates: Stage set for showdown in tight presidential race

Harris and Trump will meet each other for the first time tonight.

ByAlexandra Hutzler, Meredith Deliso, Ivan Pereira, Emily Chang, and Brittany Gaddy
Last Updated: September 10, 2024, 3:01 PM EDT

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will meet for the first time on Tuesday for the ABC News presidential debate.

It is the only debate the two have scheduled and comes at a critical point as polls show a neck-and-neck race with just eight weeks until Election Day.

The two will face off on key issues starting at 9 p.m. ET. The debate will air on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.

Photos: Kamala Harris and Donald Trump – ABC News Presidential Debate

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A billboard advertising the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris in the debate's press filing center in Philadelphia, Sept. 9, 2024.
Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

    Latest headlines:

    Here's how the news is developing:
    9 hours and 19 minutes ago

    Gold Star father, retired general among those representing Harris in spin room: Official

    Gold Star father Khizr Khan, whose son Humayun Khan was a Muslim Army captain who was killed during the Iraq War in 2004, will be among the surrogates supporting Harris in the spin room at the debate, a campaign official confirmed to ABC News.

    Khan garnered national attention after he delivered a blistering speech attacking Trump at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

    Harris will also be supported in the spin room by retired Brig. Gen. Steven M. Anderson, according to the campaign official. NBC News first reported Khan and Anderson's roles as Harris surrogates in the spin room.

    PHOTO: President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Khizr Khan during a ceremony to awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seventeen recipients in the East Room of the White House, July 7, 2022 in Washington, DC.
    President Joe Biden presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Khizr Khan, Gold Star father and founder of the Constitution Literacy and National Unity Center, during a ceremony to awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seventeen recipients in the East Room of the White House, July 7, 2022 in Washington, DC.
    Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

    -Fritz Farrow, Grabriella Abdul-Hakim and Will McDuffie

    9 hours and 18 minutes ago

    Trump campaign spokesperson says he’s not engaged in traditional debate prep

    Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez said Tuesday morning on ABC News Live that Trump "does not do traditional debate prep" and reiterated that he has been campaigning and engaging in policy discussions instead.

    "I would say that the president does not do traditional debate prep. He's on the campaign trail constantly. We see him in key battleground states every week, joined by tens of thousands of patriots," she said. "We know that he does tough interviews, both nationally, locally."

    "That's truly how he prepares for these debates, having those conversations every day. He's ready to step back into the White House," she continued. "We also know that he prefers to have those policy discussions, and he's been doing that with elected members in Congress like Matt Gaetz, with former Congress member Tulsi Gabbard and others -- very similar to what he did to prepare for that first debate against Joe Biden. He has prepared in a similar way again, just by getting out there and talking every day to voters and talking to media."

    Danielle Alvarez speaks with ABC News, Sept. 10, 2024.
    ABC News

    -ABC News' Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh

    10 hours and 51 minutes ago

    Harris not 'underestimating' Trump ahead of debate: Source

    Just hours away from the debate, a campaign source is setting expectations that Harris is not "underestimating" Trump's ability to debate, and that it would be a "mistake" to do so.

    The Harris team expects Trump to be "good" at debating, stressing that Trump has done this more than anybody else, while it will be Harris's first presidential debate.

    The Harris campaign is "happy to get under [Trump's] skin," and they hope that bringing former Trump officials into the spin room later this evening will accomplish this.

    On a campaign call last night, a source said Harris is ready for any version of Trump that shows up -- whether it's the presidential Trump, the more mellow Trump during the Biden debate or a more aggressive version.

    -ABC News' Selina Wang

    1:08 PM EDT

    8 hours until the Harris-Trump ABC debate, here is how to watch tonight

    The consequential Harris-Trump face-off will air live tonight at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and stream on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu.

    ABC News Live is available on Samsung TV+, The Roku Channel, Amazon Fire TV devices, YouTube, Tubi, the ABC app, and ABC.com.

    ABC News Digital and 538 will live blog the latest from the debate stage with coverage, analysis and fact checks.

    SiriusXM users can listen to the debate on Channel 370.

    The prime-time pre-debate special, "Race for the White House," will air at 8 p.m. ET and stream on ABC's platforms.

    Read more here.