There will be two commercial breaks, but the candidates won’t be permitted to confer with aides.

Why is the debate happening so early in the campaign?

Both campaigns believe their candidate benefits from debating as soon as possible.

Trump spent months saying Biden was too old to debate and predicted he would seek to avoid a face-to-face confrontation. The former president repeatedly vowed to debate anytime and anywhere.

Biden’s team has long believed his poll numbers will improve when voters start to focus on the race as a binary choice between the incumbent and Trump, instead of a referendum on his handling of issues like the economy or immigration.

So when CNN proposed the summer debate, both sides quickly agreed in a matter of hours. Trump surprised some observers by agreeing to the conditions demanded by Biden, especially the muted microphones and no audience.

Both campaigns also want to reach voters early because tens of millions of voters will start casting mail-in votes soon after Labor Day, earlier than ever before.

What Biden wants to achieve

Biden hopes to remind America why they elected him four years ago, and why they voted against Trump.

Saddled with widespread concerns about his age, Biden’s first goal is to show voters that he is capable of running the country for four more years after months of attacks from Republicans that he is senile or worse.

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