US Presidential Debates

All 16 currently filed Republican presidential candidates were invited to take part in a “Voters First Republican Presidential Forum” on the campus of St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. This event was the first opportunity to hear all of the 2016 Republican presidential candidates on one stage. The candidates appeared one at a time, answering questions determined by the editors of the New Hampshire Union Leader based on the topics suggested by the public, with immigration and the economy topping the list. Senators Cruz (R-TX), Paul (R-KY), and Rubio (R-FL) appeared via video link from Washington, D.C. Jack Heath moderated.

The “First in the South Democratic Candidates Forum” will be moderated by Rachel Maddow and will air live on MSNBC beginning at 8 p.m. ET. Maddow will speak with Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders separately on a variety of topics including the economy, policing in America, the state of the Democratic Party in the South and the 2016 campaign.

The Presidential Family Forum was held in the Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center in Des Moines, Iowa. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Rick Santorum attended the forum hosted by evangelical Christian advocacy groupThe Family Leader. It was hosted by politician and political activist Bob Vander Plaats and moderated by political consultant and pollster Frank Luntz. Protesters interrupted the beginning of the event and were removed by police.

The second forum for the Democratic primaries occurred on November 24, 2015. On October 21, 2015, MoveOn announced that it would host a candidate forum to be recorded and aired online in mid-November. The announcement came amid ongoing unrest within the Democratic party over the unusually low number of Democratic debates allowed by the DNC. While five candidates – Lincoln Chafee, Hillary Clinton, Lawrence Lessig, Martin O'Malley, and Bernie Sanders – were invited, only Sanders and O'Malley appeared at the event. Although this was the first forum between the candidates in which Lessig was invited, he dropped out of the race before the forum was to be held. The two candidates delivered responses on Social Security, student debt, gun violence, immigration, campaign finance reform, climate change, the progressive movement, the Syrian refugee crisis, the economy, racial profiling, and police brutality, and gave closing statements.

The Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Candidates Forum was held in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center by the lobbyist group Republican Jewish Coalition. All candidates except Rand Paul attended the eight hour long forum.

The Kemp Forum is a debate and discussion series providing a platform for the civil competition of ideas. Based on the premise that ideas, like athletes, become sharper in competition, the Kemp Forum examines cutting edge public policy questions through the kind of restless, spirited debate that Jack Kemp practiced from the heart. Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie

The Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum is an element of Urban Dreams’ non-partisan Project V.O.T.E. It is the nation’s only presidential forum in which all candidates have the opportunity to answer essential concerns of African-Americans and Latinos.

On Wednesday night, Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough moderated a Town Hall for MSNBC featuring exclusively Donald Trump. The Republican frontrunner took the stage in South Carolina at 8 p.m. ET, where he is expected to face questions from both the Morning Joe hosts as well as the audience. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio CNN will feature three of the remaining Republican candidates for President in a televised Town Hall beginning at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday night. The event, which will be moderated by Anderson Cooper live from South Carolina, will feature Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio answering questions from voters. Wednesday’s Town Hall from Greenville comes just three days before the state-wide primary, the first time voters will head to the polls since Donald Trump was named the winner of the New Hampshire Primary. The remaining candidates from the GOP — Trump, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich — were be featured in a separate Town Hall on CNN Thursday night from Columbia. That event will also be moderated by Anderson Cooper.

A sixth forum, a Town Hall event, happened on February 18, 2016, at the "KMA event center" in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was aired on MSNBC and Telemundo.[72]

Megyn Kelly hosted a two-hour town hall event on the Kelly File with Kasich, Cruz, Rubio, and Carson in attendance. Trump did not participate in the forum.

The eighth democratic forum, a Town Hall event, was held at 6:00 p.m. E.S.T. on March 7, 2016, at the Gem Theatre in Detroit, Michigan on the Fox News Channel.[83] The forum was moderated by Bret Baier.

John Kasich was on On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren at 7pm. Ted Cruz was on The Kelly File at 9pm. Donald Trump was on Hannity at 10pm. Marco Rubio was on The Kelly File at 11pm.

Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both accused Donald Trump of inciting violence, with the former secretary of state calling him "bigoted" and alleging he had perpetrated "political arson," while the Vermont senator labeled him a "pathological liar" at a town hall on Sunday night. "It is clear that Donald Trump is running a very cynical campaign pitting groups of Americans against one another. He is trafficking in hate and fear," Clinton said during the event at Ohio State University hosted by CNN and TV One. "He actually incites violence in the way he urges his audience on, talking about punching people, offering to pay legal bills." Clinton charged that Trump was guilty of a case of "political arson" by throwing fuel on political divisions in the country.

During this one-hour forum, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will be on stage back-to-back taking questions on national security, military affairs and veterans issues from NBC News and an audience comprised mainly of military veterans and active service members. To the protest of many Gary Johnson was excluded from this townhall despite polling higher with veterans than either of the other candidates.

Gavin Newsom, Governor of California debates Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida