(Photo Composite/Caleb Griffin, USC)
Biden vs. Trump: USC experts available to discuss first major presidential debate
Tonight, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump will face off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election season.
Both candidates have agreed to adhere to new rules aimed at preventing disruptions seen in previous debates: Microphones will remain muted except when it’s the candidate’s turn to speak and there will be no studio audience. During the two commercial breaks, candidates are prohibited from interacting with campaign staff.
USC experts are available for pre- and post-debate comment and analysis.
Contact: Nina Raffio, raffio@usc.edu or (213) 442-8464; USC Media Relations, uscnews@usc.edu or (213) 740-2215
Our Experts
Christina Bellantoni is an expert in political journalism, national politics, television punditry and partisan media.
Over her more than 20 years in journalism, Bellantoni has worked as a reporter and editor, as a producer and as an analyst on national television. She has covered local, state and federal government, along with four presidential campaigns and the White House.
Bellantoni is a professor of professional practice at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.
Contact: christina.bellantoni@usc.edu
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Steve Caplan is an expert in digital media, political advertising and political communications strategy.
Caplan is an adjunct instructor at USC Annenberg and the founder of Message, an award-winning strategic communications and marketing firm based in LA. Before launching Message, Caplan was a partner at GMMB, one of the nation’s leading cause marketing firms, renowned for leading former President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign to victory.
Contact: scaplan@usc.edu
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Christian Grose is an expert in U.S. politics, government and elections. Grose is a professor of political science and public policy at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and academic director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the USC Price School of Public Policy.
Contact: cgrose@usc.edu
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Martin Kaplan is an expert in campaign coverage on local TV news; the effects of public health messages in entertainment; the use of narrative to communicate science; and the impact of the attention economy on democracy.
Kaplan is a research professor of communication and journalism; the Norman Lear Chair in entertainment, media and society; and director of the Norman Lear Center at USC Annenberg.
Contact: martyk@usc.edu
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Mindy Romero is a political sociologist whose research focuses on political behavior and patterns of voting and political underrepresentation, particularly among youth and communities of color in California and the U.S. She is the founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Contact: msromero@usc.edu
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Bob Shrum is the director of the Center for the Political Future and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in practical politics at USC Dornsife.
A renowed political strategist, Shrum has served as speechwriter for Senator George McGovern and Senator Edward Kennedy, as well as a strategist in numerous winning campaigns at various levels of government, including for Joe Biden, John Kerry and Al Gore in presidential races.
Contact: shrum@usc.edu
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(Photo Composite/Caleb Griffin, USC)
(Photo/David Lienemann, retrieved from the Library of Congress)
(Photo/Shealah Craighead, retrieved from the Library of Congress)
