What to expect at ABC's Kamala Harris vs Donald Trump US presidential election debate

The debate will be hosted by ABC, with the ground rules set as the Democrat and Republican candidates take to the stake in an epic debate.

The debate will be a make or break moment for the candidates with each putting a strong case on why they should be elected and responding to various issues with eight weeks to the November 5election.

Venue of the Trump-Kamala Harris debate

ABC will host the two candidates for the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

The debate will commence at 9:00 pm local time Tuesday (0100 GMT Wednesday,) with no audience in the room where the duo will face off.

Veteran ABC anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the debate that will run for a straight 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.

Kamala Harris Business Insider USA

The event will be streamed live with all major channels setting up panels to analyse the event.

Muted mics and disruptions

To give candidates a fair chance to present their ideas and respond to questions without disruption, the mics will be muted and will only be live when it is their turn to speak.

This is similar to the previous debate in which Trump faced off with President Biden before he dropped out of the race.

No props, notes or interaction with campaign staff allowed

Trump and Harris will not be allowed to have props or written notes throughout the debate.

Only a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water will be provided to the candidates who will stand behind podiums.

Campaign staff or advisers will also not be allowed to speak to Trump and Harris during the debate, including during the two commercial debates.

Questions and topics to be covered at debate

Organizers of the event have revealed that only the two moderators will be allowed to ask questions.

Neither the questions nor the topics will be shared in advance with the two candidates.

They will have to research and prepare adequately as the they will be interacting with the questions for the first time during the debate.

No opening statements, time allocated for each candidate

Organizers of the event have slotted in two minutes for each candidate to respond to each question, with the opponent also granted two minutes for a rebuttal and nothing more than that.

US former President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a press conference at Trump Tower following the oral arguments.CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images Business Insider USA

A minute will be provided for a follow-up, clarification, or response before moving on to the next question.

Harris to offer closing statement before Trump

Each of the candidates will be given two minutes to offer their closing remarks with Vice President Kamala Harris going first.

The order of the closing remarks was agreed on after a virtual coin toss which established that Trump would be last to give his remarks.

President Biden's exit and Harris gaining ground against Trump

The Democrat party will be hoping to have its candidate outperform Trump while the Republican candidate is also hoping to continue from where he left after debating President Biden.

It is after a dismal performance at the debate that President Joe Biden bowed to pressure, exiting the race with Vice President Kamala Harris being endorsed to face off with Trump.

President Joe Biden (left) and Vice President Kamala Harris (right).Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images Business Insider USA

The change proved to be a game changer with polls indicating that Kamala has made significant gains, performing much better that Biden and edging out Trump in national polls.

The race is however a tight one with focus on the swing states where recent polls show the candidates in a tight race within the margin of error.