Several debates and forums took place among candidates in the campaign for the Democratic Party's nomination for

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

in the

2024 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 5, 2024. The Republican Party (United States), Republican Party's Ticket (election), ticket—Donald Trump, who was the 45th president of ...

, which were sponsored by private organizations, rather than the party. The Democratic National Committee expressed full support for incumbent president

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

with no primary debates. Although initially adamant that he would remain in the race, Biden ultimately withdrew on July 21 and endorsed Vice President

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

, who became the party's nominee on August 5. Harris selected

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...

, the

governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

, as her running mate.

Background

was elected president of the United States after defeating Republican nominee

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. While Biden had repeatedly expressed his intent to run for re-election since 2021, there was speculation in the first two years of his presidency that he might not seek re-election due to his age and low approval ratings. After Democrats outperformed expectations in the 2022 midterm elections, many believed the chances that Biden would run for and win his party's nomination had increased, and on April 25, 2023, Biden announced that he would run for re-election. On July 21, 2024, Biden suspended his re-election campaign. Several candidates had challenged Biden in the primary election. Author

Marianne Williamson Marianne Deborah Williamson (born July 8, 1952) is an American author, speaker, and political activist. She began her professional career as a spiritual leader of the Church of Today, a Unity Church in Warren, Michigan. Williamson has written s ...

declared her candidacy in March 2023, which was followed by attorney and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April and Representative

Dean Phillips Dean Benson Phillips ( Pfefer; born January 20, 1969) is an American politician, businessman, philanthropist, and former presidential candidate who served from 2019 to 2025 as the U.S. representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, Phi ...

in October. Kennedy withdrew from the Democratic primaries in October 2023 to

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate.

Cenk Uygur Cenk Kadir Uygur ( ; ; born March 21, 1970) is a Turkish-American political commentator, media host, and attorney. He is the co-creator of ''The Young Turks'', a progressive and left-wing populist sociopolitical news and commentary program. I ...

, a founder of

The Young Turks ''The Young Turks'' (''TYT'') is an American progressive and left-wing populist sociopolitical news and commentary program live streamed on social media platforms YouTube and Twitch, and additionally selected television channels. ''TYT'' se ...

, announced a campaign in October 2023 despite not being eligible for the presidency.

Biden's participation

Despite no incumbent president ever having participated in a primary season debate, a June 2023 poll by ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' and

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. With 7,560 students on all campuses, it is the List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston, tenth-largest university ...

found that 8 in 10 Democratic voters wanted to see Biden debate the other Democratic candidates. Among Biden supporters, 72% said they would like to see him debate in the primaries with other Democratic candidates. The Democratic National Committee expressed no support for hosting any official primary debates. Williamson criticized this decision as "rigging" and "candidate suppression."

Debates

The first debate was hosted by

New England College New England College (NEC) is a private liberal arts college in Henniker, New Hampshire. It is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. As of fall 2020, the college enrolled 4,327 students (1,776 undergraduate and 2,551 grad ...

on January 8, 2024. A second event (described as both a debate and a forum), hosted by

Dan Abrams Daniel Abrams (born May 20, 1966) is an American media entrepreneur, television host, and author. He is currently the host of '' On Patrol: Live'' on Reelz, and ''The Dan Abrams Show: Where Politics Meets The Law'' on SiriusXM's P.O.T.U.S. ch ...

NewsNation NewsNation is an American cable news network owned by Nexstar Media Group. Known for most of its history as Superstation WGN before becoming WGN America in 2008, it relaunched on March 1, 2021, as a cable news network named after its flagship n ...

, took place on January 12, 2024. Debates featuring at least two major candidates are included in the following table.

Schedule

January 8, 2024 – Manchester, New Hampshire

On January 8, 2024, Williamson and Phillips participated in a debate hosted by

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

. The debate was broadcast on

satellite radio Satellite radio is defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s ITU Radio Regulations (RR) as a '' broadcasting-satellite service''. The satellite's signals are broadcast nationwide, across a much wider geographical area than te ...

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

and was moderated by Josh McElveen, who was the former political director of

WMUR WMUR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Manchester, New Hampshire, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate to most of New Hampshire. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios on South Commercial Street in do ...

Criteria

To qualify, candidates needed to be registered on the

New Hampshire primary The New Hampshire presidential primary is the first in a series of nationwide party primary elections and the second party contest, the first being the Iowa caucuses, held in the United States every four years as part of the process of cho ...

ballot and poll at more than five percent. As Biden did not file for the New Hampshire primary ballot in deference to

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

(DNC) rules changing the primary calendar, he was not invited to the debate, and instead gave a campaign speech in South Carolina discussing

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

and attacking Republican frontrunner

Summary

The two candidates spent most of the debate attacking Biden and the DNC, rather than each other. At one point, the moderator had to interject to get the candidates to draw contrasts with each other on stage. Both candidates criticized several state Democratic parties for actions taken to make it more difficult for them to get on the ballot. Both candidates also indicated support for student debt cancellation and opposition to removing Donald Trump from the ballot. Phillips invoked Biden's poll numbers to try to argue that he would be unable to defeat Trump in a general election. Williamson criticized Phillips for not supporting

Medicare for All Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare, in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system (hence "single-payer"). Single-payer systems may contract for healthcare services from pr ...

until two months after he had started his campaign and not taking any action on it in Congress, and described focusing on Trump as a distraction. Reactions to the debate were mixed. ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

'' described it as a dud, while many attendees surveyed by ''

'' said they liked what they heard. Both newspapers agreed that the debate would likely be inconsequential to the primary.

January 12, 2024 - New York City, New York

On January 12, 2024,

recorded a forum in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

featuring Williamson, Phillips and Uygur. Biden was invited but did not attend. The discussion was moderated by

and aired on his show that night. The event was described as both a forum, debate, and discussion, but candidates were allowed to respond to one another.

January 18, 2024 – Minor candidates debate

On January 18, 2024,

Free & Equal Elections Foundation The Free & Equal Elections Foundation (Free & Equal) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan organization in the United States, the mission of which is to empower American voters through education and advocacy of electoral reforms. Free & Eq ...

hosted a debate at Chelsea Television Studios in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The debate was originally planned to be held in Los Angeles.

Christina Tobin Christina Tobin (born June 17, 1981) is an Americans, American Political activist, activist and leader in the election reform and voters' rights movements. She is the founder and chair of The Free & Equal Elections Foundation, and president and c ...

moderated the debate. All candidates registered for the ballot "in at least four states" were invited: Biden, Phillips, Williamson, Uygur, Gabriel Cornejo, Stephen Lyons, Jason Palmer, and Frank Lozada. However, only the latter four candidates chose to participate.

Forums

December 6, 2023 - The Young Turks Forum

On December 6, 2023, The Young Turks Network hosted a forum featuring Williamson and Phillips, as well as Uygur. Biden was invited but declined to attend. The candidates responded to the GOP debate being held in

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

, which was scheduled to end at the same time. The discussion was moderated by John Iadarola, the main host of '' The Damage Report'' on the same network.

January 19, 2024 - New Hampshire forum

Phillips and Williamson were part of a forum held at the Artisan Hotel in Tuscan Village,

Salem, New Hampshire Salem is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 30,089 at the 2020 census and an estimated 30,647 in 2022. Salem is a northern suburb of Boston located on Interstate 93. As the first town along I-93 north ...

. It was hosted by the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

and the Southern New Hampshire Chamber of Commerce.

Notes

External links

Video of December 6, 2023 forum, hosted by TYT

Video of the January 8, 2024 debate in Manchester, New Hampshire

Video of the January 12, 2024 forum, hosted by NewsNation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2024 Democratic Party presidential debates and forums

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Democratic 2023 in American television 2024 in American television