Pence, Harris spar over COVID-19 in vice presidential debate

SALT
LAKE CITY (AP) — Republican Mike Pence firmly defended the Trump
administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic that has killed more
than 210,000 Americans while his Democratic challenger, Kamala Harris,
condemned “the greatest failure of any presidential administration” in a
Wednesday night debate dominated by the coronavirus.

Because of
the virus, the candidates were separated by plexiglass barriers in the
debate, which was a far more civil affair than last week’s presidential
faceoff in which President Donald Trump, now back in Washington
recovering from COVID-19, constantly interrupted, almost yelling at
times.

With the virus sweeping through the highest levels of
government and Trump just days out of the hospital, Pence acknowledged
that “our nation’s gone through a very challenging time this year.”

But
he added, “I want the American people to know, from the very first day,
President Trump has put the health of America first.” He promised
millions of doses of a yet-to-be-announced treatment before the end of
the year.

Harris assailed Trump’s consistent downplaying of the
pandemic’s threat, insisting she would not take a vaccine if the
Republican president endorsed it without the backing of medical
professionals.

“Frankly this administration has forfeited their right to reelection based on this,” she charged.

Less
than four weeks before Election Day, Republicans hoped the debate might
give the Trump-Pence ticket a final opportunity to help reset a contest
that could be slipping away. His poll numbers sagging, the president,
with Pence at his side, is struggling to stabilize the nation in the
midst of multiple crises as more than a dozen senior officials across
the White House, the Pentagon and inside his campaign have been infected
by the virus he claimed would disappear.

There were heated
exchanges over the environment, the Supreme Court and racism, but
overall the debate was far more respectful than Trump and Biden’s eight
days earlier . Pence interrupted at times, but nothing like Trump had.

The
prime-time meeting in Salt Lake City elevated two candidates with
presidential aspirations of their own who may be asked to step into the
presidency even before the end of the next term. Health questions loom
over President Donald Trump, 74, who is recovering from the coronavirus,
and 77-year-old Joe Biden, who would be the oldest U.S. president ever.

Republicans
desperately want to cast the race as a choice between two candidates
fighting to move the country in vastly different directions. Biden and
Harris, they say, would pursue a far-left agenda bordering on socialism;
the Democrats say Trump’s administration will stoke racial and other
divides, torpedo health care for people who aren’t wealthy and otherwise
undercut national strength.

But so long as the coronavirus is
ravaging the White House and killing several hundred Americans each day,
the election will almost certainly be a referendum on the Trump
administration’s inability to control the pandemic, which Republicans
have sought to downplay or ignore altogether for several months.

Pence’s
message Wednesday night was undercut by the mere fact that the
candidates and moderator were separated by plexiglass shields, seated
more than 12 feet apart and facing a crowd of masked audience members
who faced expulsion if they removed their face coverings. The candidates
on stage revealed test results earlier in the day proving they were not
infected.

Before Harris said a word, she made history by becoming
the first Black woman to stand on a vice presidential debate stage. The
night offered her a prime opportunity to energize would-be voters who
have shown only modest excitement about Biden, a lifelong politician
with a mixed record on race and criminal justice, particularly in his
early years in the Senate.

Harris, 55, is the daughter of a
Jamaican father and an Indian mother. She is also a former prosecutor
whose pointed questioning of Trump’s appointees and court nominees
helped make her a Democratic star.

Pence is a 61-year-old former
Indiana governor and ex-radio host, an evangelical Christian known for
his Midwestern charm and unwavering loyalty to Trump. And while he is
Trump’s biggest public defender, the vice president does not share the
president’s brash tone or undisciplined style.

When the debate turned to race, Pence pushed back against the existence of systemic racism in police departments.

Harris
condemned the killings of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and George Floyd
in Minnesota and spoke about the protests against racial injustice in
policing that followed, which Trump has portrayed as “riots” as he calls
for law-and-order.

“We are never going to condone violence but we
must always fight for the values that we hold dear,” Harris said. “I’m a
former career prosecutor. I know what I’m talking about. Bad cops are
bad for good cops.”

Pence said his heart breaks for Taylor’s
family but he trusts the U.S. justice system. He called it “remarkable”
that Harris, as a former attorney general and prosecutor, would question
the grand jury’s decision in the case not to charge an officer with
killing her.

Pence rejected the idea that law enforcement officers have a bias against minorities.

“I
want everyone to know who puts on the uniform of law enforcement every
day, President Trump and I stand with you,” Pence said. “We don’t have
to choose between supporting law enforcement, proving public safety and
supporting our African American neighbors.”

The candidates also
clashed on taxes — or specifically, Trump’s refusal to release his tax
returns four years after repeatedly promising to do so. The New York
Times reported last month that the president pays very little personal
income tax but owes hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.

“It’d be really good to know who the president owes money to,” Harris said.

“The
one thing we know about Joe, he puts it all out there. He is honest, he
is forthright,” she added. “Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been
about covering up everything.”

Pence defended Trump as a job
creator who has paid more than his fair share of taxes and shifted
toward Biden: “On Day One, Joe Biden’s going to raise your taxes.”

While the debate covered a range of topics, the virus was at the forefront.

Trump
released a video just three hours before the debate calling his
diagnosis “a blessing in disguise” because it shed light on an
experimental antibody combination that he credited for his improved
condition — though neither he nor his doctors have a way of knowing
whether the drug had that effect.

Pence serves as chair of the
president’s coronavirus task force, which has failed to implement a
comprehensive national strategy even as Trump himself recovers from the
disease and the national death toll surges past 210,000 with no end in
sight.

The candidates appeared on stage exactly 12.25 feet (3.7
meters) apart and separated by plexiglass barriers. Both candidates
released updated coronavirus test results ahead of the debate proving
they were negative as of Tuesday.

Critics suggested that Pence should not be at the debate at all.

The
vice president attended an event last week at the White House with
Trump and others who have since tested positive, but Pence’s staff and
doctors insist he does not need to quarantine under Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention guidelines.

Wednesday’s debate was the first and last featuring the vice presidential contenders. Trump and Biden are set to face off again next week, and for a final time the week after, as the 2020 election speeds to its finale.

Peoples reported from New York. Colvin reported from Washington.