Trump to Get Last Word, While Biden Will Appear to the Right During 1st Debate

Former President Trump will get the last word during the upcoming CNN debate scheduled for next week, while President Joe Biden will appear on the right side, the network announced Tuesday.

CNN said on its website that the candidates flipped a coin to determine the podium placement and the order of the closing statements.

The Trump campaign, it said, elected for the former president to make his final closing statement after President Biden at the conclusion of the debate.

Candidates will be given a pen, pad of paper, and a bottle of water. They will not be able to bring up written notes or props on the stage, CNN’s rules stipulate.

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The two moderators will be CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, and the event will last 90 minutes in Atlanta. Both candidates have accepted invitations to the debate as well as the network’s rules around the event, according to the channel.

CNN has said that candidates need to have at least a 15 percent rating in four recent polls accepted by the network. They also need to have the ability to garner 270 electoral college votes, it has said.

Last month, the Kennedy campaign filed a complaint with the FEC, alleging CNN was colluding with the Trump and Biden campaigns to exclude him. CNN has denied his accusations, saying the campaign didn’t meet its requirements for ballot access.

“The law in virtually every state provides that the nominee of a state-recognized political party will be allowed ballot access without petitioning,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement at the time before adding that “both Biden and Trump will satisfy this requirement.”

“Under applicable laws, RFK Jr. does not,” the network said. “The mere application for ballot access does not guarantee that he will appear on the ballot in any state.”

The June 27 debate is the first of two that were agreed upon by the two candidates. The second debate will be held on Sept. 10, and ABC News will host it.

The Trump campaign in May had suggested that the Biden campaign agree to at least two more debates other than the ABC and CNN ones.

“Additional dates will allow voters to have maximum exposure to the records and future visions of each candidate,” Trump campaign officials wrote in a memo last month.

The Biden campaign, meanwhile, had outlined its own preferences in a letter last month. “The debates should be conducted for the benefit of the American voters, watching on television and at home—not as entertainment for an in-person audience with raucous or disruptive partisans and donors, who consume valuable debate time with noisy spectacles of approval or jeering,” it said.