Live updates: Time, channel and how to watch Trump-Biden presidential debate

Although he previously said he would name his prospective vice president at the Republican National Convention in “horrible” Milwaukee next month, Trump sources have since hinted he could drop the name tonight as a headline-stealing gambit.

Possible VP picks North Dakota governor Doug Burgum, Ohio senator JD Vance and Florida senator Marco Rubio are all set to be in Atlanta to cheer him on.

After failing to meet CNN’s qualification criteria for the debate, the independent candidate is following Trump’s example and appearing on Dr Phil McGraw’s Dr Phil Primetime show on his Merit Street Media platform this evening in the hope of offering some enticing counter-programming.

That’s airing at 7.30pm ET and will reportedly see Kennedy grilled on his election hopes and his controversial views on vaccines, although the host’s handling of Trump left a lot to be desired.

CNN’s rules for participation in Atlanta stipulated that the candidates must appear on a sufficient number of state ballots to reach 270 Electoral College votes and have received at least 15 per cent in four separate national polls of registered or likely voters that met the network’s standards.

By the time the June 20 qualification deadline dawned, Kennedy Jr was polling at 15 per cent in only three valid polls and had made the ballot in just six states, giving him a potential total of 89 Electoral College votes, well short of the requirement.

Fellow independents Jill Stein and Cornell West did not meet the bar either.

In addition to being a practiced insult comic, the Republican felon is also a master of the art of projection, as this Truth Social attack on the president from yesterday amply demonstrated.

Remember that a Washington Post analysis found that, while in office, Trump lied 30,573 times in his public statements, making an average of 21 false claims a day.

Trump, something of an expert in WWE-style trash talking, has inevitably been busy cooking up jokey anti-Biden content overnight, including an ad for a new sedative called “Bidenica”.

He also posted this far darker and more cynical attack ad on the president’s “character”, blaming him for illegal immigration at the southern border and various “migrant crime” episodes.

Biden’s equivalent offering is, naturally, more gentle in tone.

The Republican may see a bump in the polls after tonight’s debate because of a long-running trend: incumbents tend to do worse in the first debate of every presidential election season.

Presidential debate historian Alan Schroeder told NBC News that a president’s life exists in a “protected bubble” and the first debate of the cycle serves to take them outside of that bubble and confront them with a pumped up opponent itching for a showdown.

Gustaf Kilander has more.

White House and Republican advisers have been telling Andrew Feinberg about Biden’s intense, “punchy” preparation process at Camp David in Maryland this week — and how Trump doesn’t need to prepare because he has “elite stamina”.

Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live build-up to what promises to be a pivotal day in this year’s US presidential election.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden are due to face each on the debate stage in Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday evening in their first head-to-head of the 2024 election cycle.

The encounter will take place at 9pm ET and be broadcast live from CNN’s studios, with the network’s anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash serving as moderators.

The debate promises to be every bit as bad-tempered as their two face-offs in the run-up to the Covid-blighted 2020 election and the Republican has wasted no time in getting his blows in early, sneering on Wednesday that the president should be thrilled there will be no fact-checkers present because he is a “lying machine”.

Trump and his conservative media allies have also alleged in advance that the debate will not be a fair fight, arguing without evidence that the moderators will be biased and that Biden will be using performance-enhancing medication.

Sources close to the billionaire businessman have further hinted he could finally name his running mate ahead of the showdown.

Independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, who did not meet the qualification criteria, will meanwhile be interviewed by television personality Dr Phil on his Merit Street Media platform.