Trump ABC News town hall in Philadelphia: Start time, how to watch and stream – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Trump ABC News town hall in Philadelphia: Start time, how to watch and stream  The Philadelphia Inquirer

President Donald Trump will travel to Philadelphia Tuesday to participate in an ABC News town hall, where he will attempt to win over undecided voters seven weeks before Election Day.

The ABC News town hall will take place at the National Constitution Center, and will feature uncommitted Pennsylvania voters questioning Trump on a host of issues, with his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic likely to dominate the evening. The town hall will be moderated by veteran ABC News anchor and Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos. To abide by local coronavirus restrictions, the evening will feature live questions from people in the audience and online.

The town hall comes as Trump faces widespread criticism for revealing to veteran journalist Bob Woodward during a recorded interview in March he was deliberately playing down the threat the country faced from the coronavirus, which has now killed more than 194,000 Americans, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In 2016, Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes, out of more than six million cast, a margin less than 1%. Though polls have tightened since the summer, Biden — a Scranton native — has consistently outpaced Trump in the commonwealth, a key battleground state. A new Marist College poll released last week showed Biden widening his lead to 9 percentage points over Trump, thanks in part to the strong support the former vice president is receiving from suburban Pennsylvania voters.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch and stream the town hall:

The town hall, which will air in Philadelphia on 6ABC, is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Eastern and last about 90 minutes.

You can stream the town hall on ABC News Live, the ABC News app, and ABCNews.com. You can also stream ABC and ABC News Live on a host of so-called skinny bundles, including fuboTV (free seven-day trial), YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and AT&T Now.

George Stephanopoulos hosts "Good Morning America" from ABC's Times Square studio Monday, March 23, 2020 in New York.

Throughout his presidency, Trump has rarely granted interviews beyond a circle of opinion hosts on Fox News and other conservative outlets.

Tuesday, it will be veteran news anchor George Stephanopoulos questioning the president, alongside undecided Pennsylvania voters. Prior to joining ABC News in 1997, where he hosts the Sunday news program This Week and co-hosts Good Morning America, Stephanopoulos worked for former President Bill Clinton as a White House communications director and senior policy adviser.

Last year, Trump spent 30 hours with Stephanopoulos over two days. Among the revelations from that hour-long special were Trump’s admission he’d be willing to accept political dirt on his Democratic presidential opponent from a foreign entity. He also called Stephanopoulos “a little wise guy” during a testy exchange over Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference during the 2016 campaign.

Independence Mall in front of the National Constitution Center.

Trump is scheduled to land at Philadelphia International Airport around 4:30 p.m. and is expected to arrive at the National Constitution Center just before 5 p.m., according to the president’s public schedule.

Road closures in the area around Independence Mall will last from about 1 or 2 p.m. into the evening, according to a city spokesperson.

The closures will be from Fourth to Ninth Streets, and from Market to Vine Streets. Pedestrian restrictions will also be implemented around the National Constitution Center.

With protests expected during Trump’s visit, Philadelphia police will bolster regular patrols with additional personnel, officials said.

“While there are no specific threats to Philadelphia, in preparation for possible protest activity and out of an abundance of caution, the department will deploy additional officers throughout the city,” a police spokesperson said.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks with reporters before boarding a plane at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Detroit last week.

Biden will travel to Pennsylvania later this week for his own town hall, which will take place from Scranton and air on CNN. Anderson Cooper will moderate the event, which will feature a socially distanced live audience that abides by the state’s coronavirus restrictions.

ABC News offered to host a town hall with Biden, but the network said in a statement the two sides “were not able to find a mutually agreeable date.”

The Trump and Biden campaigns have agreed to three debates during the 2020 election (Trump said he’d be willing to do a fourth debate moderated by podcast host Joe Rogan):

  • Sept. 29: Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, moderated by Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace
  • Oct. 15: Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, moderated by C-SPAN Political Editor Steve Scully
  • Oct. 22: Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., moderated by NBC News White House correspondent (and Philadelphia native) Kristen Welker

A debate between Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris, Biden’s running mate, is scheduled for Oct. 7 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page will be the moderator.