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Vice President, I’m speaking now.
– Perhaps this regular phrase, accompanied by a smile that aims to disarm, is a memorable debate in Utah for the candidates for US vice presidents. In the 90-minute verbal clash, Republican Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic opponent Sen. Kamala Harris did not insult each other like Donald Trump and Joe Biden last week. But even more than that, the mood was gunpowder, Harris didn’t allow Pence to regularly interrupt him as Trump Bident.
The lesson was thoroughly delivered to the moderator, Susan Page, USA Today’s Washington bureau chief, who could hardly be envied for her role by American viewers. The duel was broadcast on major US channels during prime time.
This was a much more substantive debate now; citizens could hear two radically different narratives. From Mike Pence that the country was ruled by a heavy hand led by Donald Trump. Kamala Harris, on the other hand, scrutinized the president’s performance as a prosecutor, arguing that Trump did not deserve to serve another four years in office.
– Mitchell McKinney, director of the Institute for Political Communication at the University of Missouri, gave the Index a quick grade.
Deaf dialogue
With an indictment, Harris could hardly have a problem: The senator had previously been California’s attorney general. What has made the current vice president’s presidential debate particularly interesting is that, by some expectations, the 55-year-old politician could be the first female president of the United States in years, if not before.
This was the biggest omission of all the presidential administrations of our country
Harris made one of the most serious claims at the beginning of the debate, namely the treatment of the coronavirus epidemic.
Covid-19 has so far claimed 210,000 deaths in the United States. Currently, the president and his wife, Melania Trump, are also infected with the virus.
Donald Trump put American health first from day one!
Mike Pence retorted, saying that, unlike the Democrats, they don’t base their strategy on obligations (like wearing a mask) because they “trust the Americans.” He said that two million Americans would have died under Biden’s presidency and that the economic damage would have been greater.
Although the debate is more reminiscent of deaf dialogue than real dialogue, Mitchell McKinney believes that both participants were able to avoid making a mistake that would damage their campaign.
No apologies
In addition to the epidemic, the main topics included:
- the vice president’s role, given that any of the disputed rivals could be an emerging president: Trump is 74, and Biden can move into the White House at 78, unprecedented, if elected. They didn’t really want to get into this topic, Pence openly turned away from him as he then moved on to other topics. Rather, it returned to the epidemic.
- dirty material. Harris mentioned Trump’s tax arrears. “Joe Biden will raise his taxes on the first day,” Pence said even scarier. Harris promised free higher education for low-income people.
- climate change. Pence: “The climate is changing, it’s a question of what causes it.” Then he declared that they would follow science. He says it will hurt America’s energy policy if Biden, as he promises, brings the country back under the Paris Climate Protection Convention. Harris was more assertive about believing in science.
- foreign economy, foreign policy, China, China, China … Harris: “The government lost the trade war with China.” Pence: “Joe Biden Supported Communist China from the Vanguard.” Pence: “NATO is already spending more on its own defense.” Harris: “Trump has weakened America’s federal ties.” He also claimed that the president had spoken to Russian head of state Putin six times, but did not bring up the subject of a dispute over Russian blood over the heads of American soldiers in Afghanistan.
- The Supreme Court. Pence hopes that Amy Coney Barrett, Trump’s conservative presidential candidate for Chief Justice, will not start out on the Christian faith. “I am a pro-life person and I do not apologize for it,” he said of not supporting abortion.
- extreme left, extreme right. According to Pence, there is no excuse for what happened to George Floyd, but he cannot justify the riots, the looting. Harris claimed to have gained ground on the far right, the neo-Nazis marching, the anti-Semites. Pence: The president has Jewish grandchildren, he doesn’t support the extreme right.
Susan Page also spoke about the second Trump / Biden debate next week, but there are questions about whether this will actually be the case – for example, whether the president will bounce back.
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