How to watch the Democratic debate
- Date: Tuesday, February 25
- Time: 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET.
- Watch on TV: The debate will air on CBS stations.
- Live stream online: Stream on CBSN via the video player in this article or across a number of devices, including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. You can also watch live on CBS All Access with a free trial. The debate will be live-streamed on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
- Analysis and spin room: Coverage of the spin room will begin at 10 p.m. ET and will be carried on CBS stations, CBS All Access, CBSN and in the video player above.
- Live updates: Follow along on with the CBSNews.com Democratic debate live blog.
The Democratic candidates
The candidates who qualified for the debate will appear on-stage in the following order, from left to right, as viewed by the audience:
- Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg
- Former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg
- Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren
- Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
- Former Vice President Joe Biden
- Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar
- Billionaire investor Tom Steyer
The format of the debate will allow candidates to answer direct questions for one minute and 15 seconds, with 45 seconds for rebuttals at the discretion of the moderators. There will be no opening or closing statements. All candidates will get a closing question.
CBS News is co-hosting the debate with the Congressional Black Caucus Institute in Charleston, South Carolina, beginning at 8 p.m. ET on CBS stations. The debate will be streamed live on CBSN, CBS News’ free 24/7 streaming service, and appear in its entirety on BET, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS. Twitter is a debate partner, and voters can use the hashtag #DemDebate to submit questions that might be posed to the candidates.
CBS News and CBSN will air post-debate live coverage hosted by Elaine Quijano, anchor of CBSN’s “Red & Blue,” and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe beginning at 10 p.m., featuring live interviews with the candidates, surrogates and other newsmakers, plus in-depth analysis and reporting from the team of CBS News journalists and contributors in Charleston.
Under party rules, candidates can participate if they have won at least one pledged delegate after the first three contests or if they attract a certain level of support in polls. Seven of the eight remaining candidates have met either the delegate or polling threshold.
CBS News polling going into the debate shows that majorities of the top candidates’ supporters are likely to watch the debate tonight. Men and women alike are equally likely to watch, and black voters are a little more likely to say they’re definitely watching tonight.
