Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton will face off for the first presidential debate Monday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. CST on all major news networks. The event will last a full 90 minutes without commercial breaks.
After failing to meet the polling threshold set by the Commission on Presidential Debates, Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party and Jill Stein of the Green Party will not be allowed to participate.
The debate will be divided into six different 15 minute sections. Each section will begin with a question from the moderator, and the candidates will have two minutes to respond. After each initial response, the candidates will have an opportunity to respond to one another.
According to the debate commission, the tentative topics are “America’s direction,” “achieving prosperity,” and “securing America.”
Lester Holt, the host of NBC Nightly News will serve as moderator. Earlier in the year, Holt moderated a Democratic presidential primary debate with a similar format.
The Real Clear Politics Average, an aggregate of all major national polls, currently gives Clinton a 2.5 percent edge over her Republican competitor. Americans across the country will go to the polls to determine the next president Tuesday, Nov. 8.
