Kamala Harris and Mike Pence clash over coronavirus response in vice-presidential debate
Vice-President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris clashed over the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus in the only vice-presidential debate of the 2020 election, at a moment of extraordinary uncertainty for the US in the wake of the president’s hospitalization for Covid-19.“The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country,” Harris said in her opening comments to Pence, who leads the White House’s coronavirus task force. “This administration has forfeited their right to re-election.”Pence acknowledged that the nation has gone through a “very challenging time this year”,but forcefully defended the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic that has killed more than 210,000 Americans and infected millions more, including the president of the United States and many top White House officials.“I want the American people to know, from the very first day, President Trump has put the health of America first,” he said. Promising a vaccine for the virus before the end of the year, he accused Harris of undermining faith in a potential treatment and “playing politics with people’s lives”.Harris said she would take the vaccine if it was endorsed by public health experts, but “if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I’m not taking it”.In a sign of the extent to which the outbreak has reshaped the 2020 campaign, the candidates were seated 12ft apart and separated by plexiglass dividers, a request by the Biden-Harris campaign that the Pence team initially objected to. In the auditorium at the University of Utah, any guest who refused to wear a mask was to be removed.The debate unfolded in the shadow of Trump’s diagnosis with a potentially fatal disease, which renewed focus on the advanced age of the septuagenarian presidential candidates ahead of Wednesday night’s debate in Salt Lake City. Trump is 74 and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, is 77.As such, the forum served not only as a preview of the leading presidential contenders in 2024, but as a grim reminder that the role of vice-president is to succeed the president should he become incapacitated or die while in office.Neither Pence nor Harris directly answered a question about whether they had discussions about taking over the presidency.Given the uncertainty hanging over future presidential debates due to the president’s infection, Pence and Harris were under additional pressure to articulate their campaign messages.Polls show that a majority of Americans no longer trust Trump to handle the virus and blame his administration for failing to control it. Trump, who claimed he had “learned a lot” about the virus from his own experience with it, has since downplayed its severity, likening it to the flu and urging Americans not to be afraid of it.In a video shared shortly before the debate on Wednesday, Trump called his infection a “blessing from God” and said everyone should have access to the experimental treatment he was given during his hospitalization.Harris, who was elected to the Senate in 2016 and unsuccessfully ran for president against Biden last year, is the first woman of color to participate in a vice-presidential debate. Over the course of 90 minutes, she will attempt to make the case that the Trump administration has failed in its response to the coronavirus, and the economic fallout, without going too far to antagonize the president while his prognosis remains unclear.The vice-president has tested negative for Covid, but there was some question about whether he should participate in the debate given his potential exposure. The virus has now infected several members of the White House staff, as well as several US senators and military officials.The candidates have spent weeks preparing. Harris, a former prosecutor, has gained a national reputation for her sharp cross-examination of powerful men – from administration officials who came before the Senate judiciary committee to Biden, whom she confronted during a primary debate last year.In 2016, Pence delivered a clean performance, skillfully defending Trump while relentlessly attacking Hillary Clinton. Since then, he has proven to be a loyal lieutenant of the president and a more disciplined messenger of the administration’s agenda. More
