VP debate live: Kamala Harris slams Mike Pence over coronavirus response and healthcare
Pre-existing conditions are brought up as a sticking point
Harris: ‘Americans have witnessed the greatest failure of any president’
The coronavirus pandemic has already affected the staging and format
Sign up for Fight to Vote – our weekly US election newsletter
LIVE
Updated
Play Video
Kamala Harris and Mike Pence face off in the vice-presidential debate – watch live
Key events
Show
9.43pm EDT21:43
Harris to Americans with pre-existing conditions: ‘They’re coming for you’
9.10pm EDT21:10
First volley: Harris attacks Pence over coronavirus response
9.06pm EDT21:06
Vice presidential candidates take the stage
8.49pm EDT20:49
How Harris and Pence have prepped
8.20pm EDT20:20
Pence and Harris set to debate for first – and only – time
Live feed
Show
11.21pm EDT23:21
On climate change, I wanted to quickly circle back to something Pence said: That there were no more hurricanes than there were 100 years ago. The vice president made this point as evidence that Democrats were exaggerating the impacts of climate change – and it was a bit misleading.
My colleague Oliver Milman addressed this during last year’s hurricane season:
While the overall number of hurricanes has remained roughly the same in recent decades, there is evidence they are intensifying more quickly, resulting in a greater number of the most severe category four and five storms.
The proportion of tropical storms that rapidly strengthen into powerful hurricanes has tripled over the past 30 years, according to recent research. A swift increase in pace over a 24-hour period makes hurricanes less predictable, despite improving hurricane forecasting systems, and more likely to cause widespread damage.
The devastation unleashed by recent hurricanes has led to warnings that premiums may rise as insurers face ballooning claims. A record $135bn was paid out by insurers in North America in 2017, mostly as a result of hurricane damages. “We have a new normal,” says Ernst Rauch, a senior executive at insurance company Munich Re. “We must have on our radar the trend of new magnitudes.”
11.19pm EDT23:19
Max Benwell
Over on CNN, former US senator Rick Santorum just delivered a masterclass in proving someone else’s point, interrupting his fellow commentator Gloria Borger just as she was talking about Kamala Harris getting interrupted by Mike Pence. She was literally in the middle of saying how common an experience it is for women.
Matt Shuham
(@mattshuham)
Hall of Fame interruption by @RickSantorum, who cuts off @GloriaBorger to argue that Pence didn’t interrupt Harris. pic.twitter.com/OwZ50YJxWU
October 8, 2020
JackiSchechner
(@JackiSchechner)
.@RickSantorum cutting off @GloriaBorger while she’s in the middle of explaining how women are going to hate how @VP kept cutting off @KamalaHarris could not be more meta.
October 8, 2020
Patrick Radden Keefe
(@praddenkeefe)
Amazing moment just now on CNN where Gloria Borger, the sole woman on a panel with 4 men, starts to explain what it was like for women to watch Kamala get repeatedly interrupted but can’t finish because the men on the panel interrupt her. And she says “Mr Santorum, I’m talking.”
October 8, 2020
Josh Schwerin
(@JoshSchwerin)
Meanwhile on CNN Santorum interrupts Gloria Borger to push back on point about Pence interrupting Harris too much not going over well with women watching…
October 8, 2020
Updated
at 11.21pm EDT
11.17pm EDT23:17
Pence – in contrast to Donald Trump – delivered his message in a calm, measured tone. But he repeated many of the false claims made by the president.
Most notably, he misconstrued and overplayed the impact of travel restrictions on the US’ coronavirus case count, and misleading Americans on the administration’s stance on healthcare protections for people with preexisting protections.
In other cases, Pence declined to correct Trump’s record. Asked if Pence would accept the results if Republicans lose the presidential election, Pence dodged.
“First and foremost, I think we’re going to win this election,” he said. “When you talk about accepting the outcome of the election, I must tell you, Senator, your party has spent the last three and a half years trying to overturn the results of the last election. It’s amazing.”
Harris didn’t directly respond when asked what she and Biden would do if Pence and Trump refused to step aside, Harris urged: “Please vote. Vote early, come up with a plan to vote.”
11.07pm EDT23:07
When discussion turned to the police and the nationwide protests against police brutality, Pence broached Harris’ record as attorney general of California and her prosecutorial record.
It’s an issue that often came up during the Democratic primaries, and took on new relevance after the police killing of George Floyd triggered protests across the nation. As the Guardian has reported before, while Harris has sought to present herself as a “progressive prosecutor”, her record is more complicated. Her approach to sex work, police reform, prisoners’ rights and truancy have drawn criticism from activists in her home state.
Though she initially disregarded calls to investigate a series of police shootings in San Francisco after the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, she did begin to evolve by the end of her tenure as attorney general – and in 2016 suggested some reforms to increase her office’s power to investigate police.
But these criticisms are odd coming from Pence – and Trump, who has brought them up before – given the administration’s harsh “law and order” rhetoric.
Updated
at 11.11pm EDT
10.55pm EDT22:55
The fly on Mike Pence’s head seems to be the breakout star of this debate.
Both vice-presidential candidates, meanwhile, swatted away direct questions – pivoting to topics they wanted to discuss rather than what was actually asked. The 90 minutes flew by, as the candidates buzzed over the moderator’s pleas to stick to time limits.
Sorry … (not sorry)
Updated
at 11.11pm EDT
10.45pm EDT22:45
Max Benwell
The debate has now ended, with the final question coming from an eighth grader on what can be done to bring people together.
Mike Pence and Kamala Harris answered hopefully about what can be done. But with just over a week to go until the next presidential debate with Donald Trump and Joe Biden, it seems likely that the problem will only be laid bare once again.
10.43pm EDT22:43
Pence dodged a question about what he’d do if Trump loses, and refuses to accept the results.
Watching the debate tonight, we’re reminded of something Trump once said about the vice president after Pence dodged a journalist’s question about healthcare earlier this year: “I think that’s one of the greatest answers I’ve ever heard because Mike was able to speak for five minutes and not even touch your question.”
Updated
at 11.05pm EDT
10.30pm EDT22:30
Pence, muttered “Not true,” when Harris referenced Trump’s comments on the Proud Boys.
Harris’ assertion was true – and witnessed by everyone watching on TV. Pence has repeatedly questioned Harris’ grasp of the facts tonight – even as he has continued to make false and misleading statements.
10.27pm EDT22:27
Max Benwell
Meanwhile, over on Mike Pence’s head… a fly just set up shop, and for a decent amount of time too.
In an otherwise very serious debate, it’s provided some light relief:
Josh Marshall
(@joshtpm)
BREAKING: Fly lands on VP Pence’s head. pic.twitter.com/e8eoeMXRnH
October 8, 2020
Ana Navarro-Cárdenas
(@ananavarro)
Oh my God.He’s so full of crap, a fly has landed on his head. pic.twitter.com/f61K9oIvKa
October 8, 2020
Liz Plank
(@feministabulous)
can someone get the fly a covid test
October 8, 2020
Patton Oswalt
(@pattonoswalt)
EWWWWWWWWW that fly has Mike Pence on his stomach. #VPDebate
October 8, 2020
nate dern
(@natedern)
A fly landing on Pence’s head while he’s saying “systemic racism isn’t real” is the universe’s way of saying “this is bullshit.” pic.twitter.com/25dBH2t5zr
October 8, 2020
10.26pm EDT22:26
Asked if Breonna Taylor was denied justice, Pence responded: “I trust our justice system,” Pence said.
“This idea that America is systemically racist, that there’s implicit bias in law enforcement,” Pence said, “is a great insult to the men and women who work in law enforcement.”
Harris hit back: “I am the only one on this stage who has personally prosecuted” a range of crimes, she said. She then attacked Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacists. The president told Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during the first presidential debate. “This is part of a pattern,” Harris said, pointing to the president’s racist rhetoric about Mexicans, and his response to white supremacists marching in Charlottesville.
Updated
at 10.33pm EDT
10.18pm EDT22:18
Harris twice avoided answering whether a Biden administration would pack the supreme court.
Biden has taken a similar approach, largely avoiding a straight answer on whether he’d support adding seats to the supreme court if Trump’s nominee Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed.
Updated
at 10.24pm EDT
10.16pm EDT22:16
Asked what they would do in their states if Roe v Wade is overturned by the supreme court, Pence completely evaded the question, and Harris pivoted to healthcare.
Pence began by responding to a previous topic and then accused Democrats of attacking supreme court nominee Amy Coney Barrett – a conservative who is expected to overturn American’s women’s right to abortion – based on her faith.
Harris said she will “always fight for a woman’s right to make choices about her body”. She then pointed out that abortion isn’t the only issue that could be decided by Barrett – the future of the ACA is currently being challenged in the supreme court.
Neither directly said what they’d do in Indiana and California, respectively.
Updated
at 10.25pm EDT
10.04pm EDT22:04
Susan Page gave Pence a talking to, after he repeatedly rolled through her warnings that his time to speak was up.
The Hill
(@thehill)
Susan Page stops VP Pence as he goes past time limit: “I did not create the rules for tonight… I’m here to enforce them.”#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/FL5qAhC0Zj
October 8, 2020
“You have 15 seconds,” Page warned Pence.
“I gotta have more than that,” he insisted.
Through the night, Page has tried to interrupt, ineffectively, with “thank you, Vice-president Pence” – even as she’s talked over.
Updated
at 10.16pm EDT
10.02pm EDT22:02
Max Benwell
Meanwhile, in China … viewers of the debate are reportedly not getting to find out what Kamala Harris and Mike Pence are saying about China.
This was just shared by the Globe and Mail’s Beijing correspondent (and later updated once the China section was over here):
Nathan VanderKlippe
(@nvanderklippe)
The CNN feed in China the moment debate turned to China. pic.twitter.com/GuhqTDaEda
October 8, 2020
Updated
at 10.16pm EDT
10.02pm EDT22:02
On foreign policy, Harris says Trump has “ embraced dictators around the world,” and sided with Russia over American intelligence. “America’s intelligence community told us Russia interfered in the election in 2016,” she said. “But Donald Trump prefers to take the word of Vladimir Putin over word of the U.S. intelligence community”
9.57pm EDT21:57
Max Benwell
This was the memorable moment Kamala Harris spoke directly to viewers about Trump’s plans for their healthcare:
Pod Save America
(@PodSaveAmerica)
“If you have a pre-existing condition, heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer — they’re coming for you.” @KamalaHarris pic.twitter.com/072m1n6Cnw
October 8, 2020 More
