President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will debate live on Thursday night, the first debate of the 2024 American election cycle. They will discuss issues and canvass for votes from Americans.

The debate hosted by CNN is historic for Americans as it is the first debate between a sitting president and a former one. It also marks a rematch between the duo, who debated in 2020 when Mr Trump was president.

The debate, scheduled to start at 9:00 p.m., will be held at CNN studio in Atlanta for millions of American viewers and others worldwide.

Issues bordering immigration and border crisis, abortion law, rights of LGBTQ, Ukraine vs Russia, Israel vs Palestine and the American economy are likely to be raised during the debate.

Mr Biden, 81, will come under scrutiny for his four years in office. The debate would give him an opportunity to dismiss the suspicion that his age is trumping his effectiveness and competence as a leader of America.

Ahead of the debate, Mr Biden on X said, “Take it from the people who know Donald Trump best—he is unfit to be president.”

On the other hand, Mr Trump, 78, will fight for a comeback, having been indicted on all 34 counts of paying hush money and falsifying business records.

“Joe Biden is a threat to democracy and a threat to the survival and existence of our country itself!!!” Mr Trump wrote in one post on Truth ahead of the historic debate.

According to Wednesday’s New York Times/Siena College poll, Mr Trump is ahead by three percentage points among likely voters and six points among registered voters nationally.