here's a breakdown of everything you need to know before tonight's ABC presidential debate between former president Trump and vice president kamla Harris the debate starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern time there is no live audience there are no opening statements but the candidates have 2 minutes each to deliver closing statements at the end of the program the moderators are the only ones who can ask the candidates questions the debate will last 90 minutes and each candidate has 2 minutes to answer questions 2 minutes for rebuttal and an extra minute for any clarification or extra response cand Cates are not allowed to bring pre-written notes or any props to the stage but they do each have a blank notepad a pen and a bottle of water both candidates must stand at their podiums for the entire debate there are no boxes to stand on and each candidate's microphone will be muted if they are not speaking this is the first and potentially only face-to-face meeting between Trump and Harris before election day which is just 55 days away