How to watch the South Carolina Democratic debate live tonight without cable – CNET

This story is part of Elections 2020, CNET’s full coverage of the 2020 elections.

After duking it out on stage in Nevada and seeing Sen. Bernie Sanders win the state handily, seven Democratic presidential hopefuls head to South Carolina for the 10th Democratic primary debate. Former Vice President Joe Biden has bet big on South Carolina and needs a strong debate performance to make his case to voters ahead of the state’s primary on Saturday. Biden and Sanders are neck and neck atop the latest polls for the state, but billionaire Tom Steyer isn’t far behind. After missing the cut in Nevada, Steyer qualified for the South Carolina debate at the last minute on the strength of a CBS News/YouGov poll. 

Complete coverage of the Democratic debate from CBS News

Meanwhile the other billionaire in the democratic race, Michael Bloomberg, drew fire from each of the other five candidates during his debate debut in Las Vegas and struggled to parry their attacks. Will Bloomberg fare better in his second effort? 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren will look to keep the momentum going from Las Vegas where she went on the offensive and had her strongest debate performance to date. Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar will try to carve out support for moderate voters in the last debate to be held before the all-important vote on Super Tuesday.

The South Carolina debate will take place in Charleston on Tuesday, Feb. 25 from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. ET (5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. PT) and will be broadcast live on CBS, BET, YouTube and Twitter. (Disclosure: CNET is a division of ViacomCBS.) Here’s how to watch for free, even if you don’t have cable.


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Which candidates are in the debate?

Six candidates have qualified for the debate:

  • Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • Former Mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg
  • Former Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg
  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
  • Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont
  • Businessman Tom Steyer
  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Democratic Primary Debate

Bloomberg, Warren, Sanders, Biden, Buttigieg and Klobuchar on the Las Vegas stage during the last debate. They’ll be joined in Charleston, South Carolina by billionaire Tom Steyer.


Getty Images

Who is hosting and moderating the debate?

The debate is hosted by CBS News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute in Charleston. Here are your moderators:

  • Norah O’Donnell, CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor 
  • Gayle King, CBS This Morning co-host 
  • Margaret Brennan, Face the Nation moderator and senior foreign affairs correspondent
  • Major Garrett, chief Washington correspondent 
  • Bill Whitaker, 60 Minutes correspondent

How can I watch or stream the debate for free?

The debate starts at 8 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on CBS and BET. You’ll be able to stream it on the CBS News website, the CBS News app and on Twitter at @CBSNews. As with the previous debates, you can watch for free without authentication, which means you won’t have to sign in at all, just start streaming.

CBS News will also make the livestream available on its YouTube Channel, embedded above.

Any other ways to livestream the debate?

Cord cutters who subscribe to a live TV streaming service can also watch the debate. All five major services, listed below, offer CBS or BET or both. The catch is that not every service carries every local network, so check each one using the links below to make sure it carries CBS in your area.

Sling TV does not include CBS, but its $30-a-month Blue plan includes BET. Sling’s packages are discounted by $10 for the first month. Enter your address here to see which local channels are available where you live.

Read our Sling TV review.

Hulu with Live TV costs $55 a month and includes CBS, but not BET. Click the “View channels in your area” link on its welcome page to see which local channels are offered in your ZIP code.

Read our Hulu with Live TV review.

All of the live TV streaming services above offer a free trial, allow you to cancel anytime, and require a solid internet connection. Looking for more information? Check out our massive streaming services guide.

Originally published last year. Updated for the current debate.

source: cnet.com