Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. News

How to watch tonight’s third 2020 Democratic primary debate online

Mathew Katz
By
Democratic Primary Debate
Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Update: This debate has already occurred, take a look at our newest coverage for how to watch tonight’s Democratic debate live.

The third Democratic primary debate will air on ABC and Univision tonight, and it’s finally taking place on one night instead of two. Unlike the past two debates, the third round will only feature 10 candidates after the Democratic National Committee imposed a stricter qualification cutoff for polling and fundraising numbers.

Recommended Videos

The debate will pit all of the major candidates — and some minor ones — against one another for the first time. Here’s what you need to know about the third 2020 Democratic primary debate and how to watch it live.

Where and when is the third Democratic debate?

Related

The debate will kick off at 5 p.m. PT on  Thursday, September 12, at Texas Southern University’s Health & PE Center in Houston. It’s expected to last about three hours.

How can I watch tonight’s Democratic primary debate online?

ABC will livestream the debate on the ABC app on iOS and Android, on ABC.com, and on devices like Roku, AppleTV, and Amazon Fire TV.

The network will also stream the debate on YouTube, which you can watch in the player below when the debate begins at 5 p.m. PT on Thursday, along with pre-debate coverage that starts at 4 p.m. PT.

You can also watch the debate live on television by tuning into either ABC News or Univision.

What candidates have qualified for the debate?

Candidates needed at least 2% or more support in four national polls or early-voting state polls, along with at least 130,000 unique donors. The following 10 candidates reached that threshold and will be on the debate stage on Thursday:

  • Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)
  • Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana
  • Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro
  • Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)
  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn)
  • Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas)
  • Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
  • Entrepreneur Andrew Yang

Who’s moderating the debate?

The moderators include George Stephanopoulos, David Muir, Linsey Davis, and Jorge Ramos.

What will the candidates discuss?

We’ve seen the same major topics dominate the conversation in the first two debates, health care being the big one with several candidates supporting some form of Medicare for All.

Many of the candidates have come out with policies to change or regulate the way you use tech: Warren has called for breaking up Big Tech companies and improving rural internet service, Yang has warned of the dangers of moderation, and Sanders wants to stop Facebook and Google from controlling the news you see. They’re likely to discuss their approach to tech during the upcoming debate.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mathew Katz
Mathew Katz
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Mathew is a news editor at Digital Trends, specializing in covering all kinds of tech news — from video games to policy. He…
How to watch the Democratic debate between Biden and Sanders if you missed it
Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden at the Democratic Debate

The 11th Democratic debate featured two candidates and no audience, who bumped elbows instead of shaking hands. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont went head to head on Sunday, March 15. If you missed it, you can watch the entire debate online.

The debate was supposed to take place in Arizona, but on Thursday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced that the location would be moved to Washington, D.C., so both candidates wouldn’t have to fly on a plane amid the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, better known as the coronavirus. It was also the first debate without a live audience as another precaution to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as Americans are encouraged to undertake social distancing.

Read more
How to watch the South Carolina Democratic presidential debate if you missed it
Mike Bloomberg, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders at the Democratic Debate

Watch live: CBS News Democratic debate

The final Democratic debate before Super Tuesday took place in Charleston, South Carolina on Tuesday, February 25, just days before that state's primary. Rivals spent their time attacking Bernie Sanders, who handily won the Nevada primary and is poised to do well in most of the upcoming primary states, according to recent polls. If you missed the debate when it was live, you can watch it in its entirety in the player above.

Read more
How to watch the Las Vegas Democratic debate if you missed it live
Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders at the Democratic debate

The third debate of 2020 took place Wednesday night, giving the Democratic presidential candidates one last opportunity to make their case before Saturday's Nevada caucus.

The Las Vegas debate was hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Noticias Telemundo in partnership with the Nevada Independent and will take place at the Paris Theater. If you missed the debate when it was live, you can watch the whole thing in its 2+ hour entirety in the player above. 
How to watch the Las Vegas Democratic debate if you missed it live
You can stream the entire debate on the NBC News website. You can also watch the debate in the player above.
Which candidates qualified for the debate? 
To qualify for Wednesday’s debate, candidates had to have won at least one delegate from either the Iowa caucus or the New Hampshire primary. Candidates also must have cleared at least 10% in four national polls, or have received 12% in South Carolina or Nevada polls to qualify. 

Read more