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Trump-Harris debate live updates: Stage set for pivotal showdown in tight presidential race
Harris and Trump will meet each other for the first time tonight.
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.
Latest headlines:
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."
-ABC News' Soorin Kim, Lalee Ibssa and Kelsey Walsh
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
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.
Where Kamala Harris, Donald Trump stand on key issues
Harris and Trump are facing off at a pivotal time, with just weeks until Election Day and days before some states begin the early voting process.
Hot-button political issues that are likely to be discussed by Harris and Trump include the economy and inflation, immigration, reproductive rights, and crime and gun violence.
Foreign policy and the state of democracy are also expected to come up.
Read more here.