ABC News’ David Muir And Linsey Davis To Moderate September Presidential Debate

ABC News’ David Muir and Linsey Davis will moderate the second presidential debate on Sept. 10.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump said that they would participate in the event, to be their second matchup this cycle. CNN is hosting the first debate, scheduled for June 27 at its Atlanta headquarters, with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating.

ABC News has not announced the format for its debate, although one source said that it will be in studio as well. The announcement of the moderators was made on World News Tonightwhich Muir anchors. Davis anchors the streaming newscast ABC News Live Prime.

This will be the first time that Muir or Davis has moderated a general election debate. The last ABC News personality to do so was Martha Raddatz, who co-moderated a debate with CNN’s Anderson Cooper in 2016.

Earlier today, the Biden campaign announced that it was forgoing the fall debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates and instead opting for network-sponsored events earlier in the cycle. Soon after, Biden and then Trump announced that they had agreed to a CNN debate, and later to an ABC News debate. Although the final debate plans came together quickly, the campaigns reportedly had been discussing options in recent weeks.

In the past, the commission, made up of Democrats and Republicans, had selected the moderators and the dates. By bypassing those plans, the Biden and Trump campaigns have essentially taken more control over the events, as they had to agree on the network and venue, and presumably the moderators as well.

More to come.