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Presidential debates are a central part of the electoral process every four years. When candidates come face-to-face like this, voters are granted the opportunity to compare and contrast their various policies.

These showdowns also provide insight into how presidential contenders respond to being challenged, asked questions under pressure, or otherwise made to manage without reading from a teleprompter.

This year, there's been a lot of speculation about whether a Harris vs. Trump debate will occur. Trump debated President Biden in late June. Though after the latter dropped out of the 2024 election and gave Harris his endorsement, the possibility of future debates was called into question.

For a while, it appeared that additional ones may not happen. This week, Americans learned that Vice President Harris and former President Trump have each agreed to appear on a stage together, come Tuesday, September 10.

What to know about the upcoming Harris vs. Trump debate

ABC News will host next month's presidential showdown. With more than 30 days remaining, the particulars concerning a location and moderators are still being hashed out. During a campaign rally in Atlanta, however, the vice president dared Trump to debate her, saying she's up to sharing the stage with him.

On Thursday, Harris spoke to the press in Michigan as well. Declaring she's glad Trump finally agreed to the original September 10 debate, the vice president next expressed "hope" that her opponent does in fact "show up."

Trump, on the other hand, has been hitting Harris by calling her debate skills into question. Other Republicans are branding the vice president as a "DEI hire." Then, there's talk on the right wing about Democrats supposedly "rigging" the election via Biden dropping out and Harris securing the delegates to win her party's nomination.

Americans can expect each of these issues to be explored to some extent during next month's debate.

Between now and September 10

Thus far, Harris and her VP pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are hitting the ground running in key battleground areas. States like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and others will play a major role in the November 5 election.

Both campaigns are likewise taking repeated potshots at one another. Though in America, that's par for the course. The public should expect this to continue as Harris-Walz and Trump-Vance each work to secure a victory on Election Day.