As it happenedended

Donald Trump v Hillary Clinton debate live stream: How to watch the first presidential debate online

100 million are expected to watch

Monday 26 September 2016 16:32 BST

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With the polls yoyoing the past few months, the live TV debates between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are set to be pivotal in determining who ends up in the White House.

The first takes place tonight at 2AM BST/9PM ET/6PM PT at Hofstra University, and fortunately you won’t need cable, a subscription service or a region unblocker to watch the crucial exchange.

The whole thing will be on YouTube through streaming partners NBC News, Bloomberg Politics and the Washington Post, one of which is embedded and at the top of this article.

If you want to go for super immersive/hyperreal/terrifying, AltspaceVR are offering a virtual reality stream of the debate for people with Samsung Gear or Oculus Rift.

A record audience of 100m viewers are expected to watch tonight’s debate, which will likely see Clinton attempt to regard Trump as one would a clown, while he tries to muster a calm, presidential air.

You can find everything you need to know about the debate, and keep up with it live, here.

Hillary Clinton has released her guest list for tonight's event which includes four women who were affected by her policies.

Anastasia Somoza: A woman with cerebral palsy who’s previously appeared in a pro-Clinton campaign ad. She spoke at this year’s Democratic National Convention and met Clinton when she was just 9-year-old.

Aleatha Williams: While she was the First Lady, Clinton became pen pals with an 8-year-old student. They continued their relationship for years and Clinton attended Williams’ high-school graduation in the Bronx.

Lauren Manning: One of the severely injured victims of the 9/11 attacks will attend the debate on Clinton’s behalf. She’s worked with Clinton to retain benefits for survivors and first responders of the terror attacks.

Maxine Outerbridge: The single mother and domestic violence survivor previously helped by the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire Trump critic, also said he received an invite by the Clinton campaign and will be sitting in the front row for tonight's debate.

—JC

Justin Carissimo26 September 2016 17:41

Anna Rhodes takes a stab at what Hillary needs to do when debating The Donald.

—JC

Five things Hillary Clinton needs to do differently because she's a woman

Justin Carissimo26 September 2016 18:45

Bill Clinton is in the audience, amid speculation that he was going to watch the debate from backstage. — FG

Feliks Garcia27 September 2016 01:57

Moderator Lester Holt of NBC just introduced himself to the audience in the minutes before the debate. Much scrutiny is on Mr Holt, as the Trump campaign does not want him to fact check during the debate, but spectators hope he will hold Mr Trump accountable for times he tells lies.

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Feliks Garcia27 September 2016 01:58

On foreign policy, Mr Trump and Ms Clinton spar over taking out Isis. Trump accuses Clinton and Obama of mishandling the troop withdrawal from Iraq, which led to Isis. Says the US should have taken the oil, which he says Isis used as seed money.

Ms Clinton proposed an intelligence surge to take out Isis, and quell homegrown terrorism.

Feliks Garcia27 September 2016 03:19