Alan Schroeder

Following a fiery debate that saw Harris dominate an extremely combative exchange, FRANCE 24’s Nadia Massih is joined by Alan Schroeder, Author, former Diplomat, and Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University.

When we spoke with Northeastern University Professor Emeritus Alan Schroeder, an expert on presidential debate history, before Trump’s announcement, he correctly predicted, “I don’t think there is any way on God’s green earth that Trump would skip this debate.”

“It started off with the television networks,” explained Alan Schroeder, professor emeritus of journalism at Northeastern University and the author of a book on the history of presidential debates

Those first debates were the brain child of network TV executives, according to Alan Schroeder, professor emeritus of journalism at Northeastern University and author of “Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail.”

“I always like to watch how the candidates treat one another,” said Alan Schroeder, a professor emeritus of journalism at Northeastern University who has written several books about presidential debates.

The first debate between Kennedy and Nixon is considered one of the most significant because it entrenched the idea that appearances are an important part of presidential campaigns, says Alan Schroeder, a professor of journalism at Northeastern University. The debate is considered the first nationally televised presidential debate in history.

“The attempt to control that, I think, is a good thing,” Alan Schroeder, a professor emeritus of journalism at Northeastern University who has written several books about presidential debates, told ABC News. “I don’t know in practice how that will work.”

But Trump took a more restrained tack in the second debate in 2020 — and that makes preparation for Biden a bit unpredictable, said Alan Schroeder, a professor at Northeastern University who’s written a history of presidential debates. “You don’t know which one you’ll get,” Schroeder said.

CNN speaks with Allen Schroeder, professor emeritus at Northeastern University.

Alan Schroeder, professor emeritus of journalism at Northeastern University, sees some risk in the less formal approach for Trump, who like Biden has not debated in four years after eschewing face-offs with his Republican primary challengers.