Debate of the vice presidents of the United States, in the shadow of the COVID pandemic. Kamala Harris, to Mike Pence: “Americans witnessed the biggest presidential failure in the history of the country” | News, Foreign News Freedom

The debate between the two vice presidential hopefuls was much more civilized than that between Donald Trump and Joe Biden last week, although there were also interruptions.

Although the debates of the “vice presidents” do not matter as much in the economics of electoral campaigns, the year 2020 is tense and special, so the confrontation was highly anticipated.

Harris, writes the New York Times, used the debate for two purposes: to assure voters that she and Mike Pence are not as liberal as Republicans describe them, and to launch a series of tough attacks on the Trump administration.

Pence has tried selectively to defend the administration’s achievements, including its use of half-truths about health insurance, America’s economic recovery, and the alleged reliance on President Trump on science.

COVID-19 epidemic

One of the most important topics of debate was the COVID epidemic, which killed more than 210,000 Americans and infected 7.5 million.

Harris immediately launched an attack, emphasizing that the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic was “the greatest failure of a presidential administration in the history of the country.”

“Trump and Pence don’t have a plan yet,” said the Democratic senator.

It should be noted that Harris made these accusations when the moderator, USA Today journalist Susan Page, asked him about his own plan to combat the epidemic.

That’s why Pence fought back, saying that Biden’s strategy actually includes things the Trump administration is already enforcing.

Pence even accused Harris of “playing politics with people’s lives.” And Harris responded in the same note, accusing the Trump administration of politicizing the vaccine development process, an indication that the president wants to speed up the approval of the COVID vaccine in order to electorally benefit from it.

Even more difficult was Pence’s attempt to defend his failure in his mission to protect the president after the White House infection.

In fact, when asked about the now famous White House event, suspected of spreading the virus and infecting various people, councilors, senators or perhaps even the president, Pence preferred to avoid the answer.

“They will come for you!”

A hard attack, successful by Harris, judging by the echoes, was against health insurance.

The main target: the Trump administration’s desire to repeal the health insurance law passed during Barack Obama’s tenure, a law that also insures Americans with pre-existing medical conditions.

Democrats accuse Trump of leaving 23 million Americans uninsured and of not having a plan for Americans with pre-existing conditions, which Republicans have denied.

“If you have a preexisting condition…theyre coming for you. If you love someone who has a preexisting condition—theyre coming for you. If you are under the age of 26 on your parents coverage—theyre coming for you.” —@KamalaHarris, on the Trump administration gutting the ACA pic.twitter.com/AYfNbK6rRz
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) October 8, 2020
 

“If you have a pre-existing condition (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast cancer), they will come after you,” Harris warned.

“If you love someone who has a pre-existing condition, they will come for you. If you are under 26 and on your parents’ insurance, they will come for you,” Harris warned repeatedly, a powerful message given that health is one of the important themes of the campaign, especially for Democratic voters.

“President Trump and I have a plan to improve our health and protect Americans from pre-existing conditions,” Pence insisted.

Pence refuses to confirm a peaceful transfer of power

Another important moment of the evening came at the end of the debate, when Mike Pence followed the example of his boss, President Trump, and avoided saying whether he would accept defeat in the election.

Trump has repeatedly evaded the answer to this question, even accusing, without proof, of possible electoral fraud, to suggest that a possible defeat of his would not be correct.

“First of all, I think we will win this election,” Pence said Wednesday night.

“So when we talk about accepting the election result, I must tell you, Senator, that your party has spent the last three and a half years trying to change the election results. It is amazing,” Pence said, referring to the indictment. of President Trump.

Harris did not explain exactly what he would do if Trump and Pence refused to transfer power, but preferred to ask Americans to go to the polls.

A fly in the middle of the debate

In an otherwise serious and important debate, one of the moments that attracted a lot of viewer attention, judging by the reactions on social media, was the one where a fly landed on Pence’s head.

BREAKING: Fly lands on VP Pence's head. pic.twitter.com/e8eoeMXRnH
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 8, 2020
 

Even Joe Biden reacted quickly to speculate on the timing.

“Donate $ 5 to help this campaign fly,” Biden wrote on Twitter, also posting an image of an envelope hinting at the fly that upset Mike Pence.

Pitch in $5 to help this campaign fly. https://t.co/CqHAId0j8t pic.twitter.com/NbkPl0a8HV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 8, 2020
 

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Senator Kamala Harris, elected by Joe Biden as vice president, will face conservative Mike Pence in Salt Lake City, Utah.

AFP writes that the debate between the vice-presidential candidates takes on an exceptional dimension, taking into account Donald Trump’s COVID diagnosis, but also the age of the two presidential candidates, Trump, 74, and Biden, 77.

It is easy to understand why: in the event of the incapacity or death of the president of the United States, power rests with the vice president.

The vice president’s showdown comes after last week’s chaotic Trump-Biden debate, in which the two candidates exchanged insults and attacks on the person and fewer substantive statements.

The Pence-Harris meeting also follows the tense days triggered by President Trump’s positive COVID test, his hospitalization and subsequent discharge.

Therefore, the security measures will be strict.

Pence and Harris will be separated from a Plexiglass wall during their debate Wednesday, an official on the Democratic senator’s campaign team said.

Additionally, Democratic vice presidential nominee and Republican Mike Pence will stand about four feet apart from the originally planned two meters.

Mike Pence, 61, has tested negative for the coronavirus, but concerns persist after the president became infected.

Three days before he tested positive, Donald Trump participated in his first long-distance, closed-door debate against Joe Biden. In the hall, some of the Republican leader’s relatives took off their masks during the 90 minutes of the debate.

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