Simplifying the Vice-Presidential Debate

By: Hana Mariappa    ​

Every four years, typically, three presidential and one vice-presidential debates are held with the democratic and republican candidates. On October 7, the Vice Presidential debate was held in Kingsbury Hall, Utah. Senator Kamala Harris and vice president Mike Pence debated for the spot in the upcoming 2020 election. Susan Page of USA Today was the moderator of the debate.

Overview of Participants
Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris is the first African-American, first woman, and first Asian-American woman to run on a major political party's presidential ticket. She is currently the senator of California. The Republican vice presidential nominee is Mike Pence. Currently, he is the vice president of the United States. Formally, he has served in the house of  representatives for the 6th district of Indiana. Susan Page is the current Washington chief bureau for USA Today. Typically, USA Today has been known to report slightly left news; however, Susan Page came into some heat when she was announced as a moderator. Earlier in September, Page hosted a party to celebrate Seema Verma’s nomination by President Trump. Many believed this would influence her moderation during the debate.

Debate Highlights

COVID-19
The debate started with the topic of COVID-19. Much of the debate surrounded the topic of COVID-19 as last week it was announced that President Trump tested positive for COVID-19. Harris got the first question regarding how the Trump administration had handled COVID-19. She repeatedly referenced back to the news, which came out earlier this week, that the Trump administration knew about the COVID-19 in January and downplayed the severity of the virus. In regards to COVID-19, Pence pointed out how the administration put the travel ban early on. He then stated that President Trump had banned all travel to and from China. However, this is incorrect. Trump did not suspend all travel from China. He barred non-U.S. citizens from traveling from China, but there were 11 exceptions, and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan were not included. U.S. citizens and permanent residents could still travel from China but were subject to screening and possible 14-day quarantine. Pence continued by saying that the Biden-Harris administration’s plan is very similar to the steps that the Trump administration had taken already. Susan Page then asked how the citizens were expected to follow COVID-19 guidelines when the White House could not even follow them (Referencing the Rose Garden Party that spiked the number of COVID cases within the Republican leaders). Pence dodged the question. Pence instead brought up how when Joe Biden was vice president, his team handled the swine flu poorly and that it could have easily escalated as much as the coronavirus. (The swine flu was not as lethal as COVID-19 with 12,500 deaths in the US). Pence still blames China for the coronavirus in the US while Harris blames the Trump administration management for the coronavirus in the US.

Healthcare
On the topic of healthcare, Pence criticized Biden’s performance with the Obamacare act. Harris decided to express her disapproval on the decision of the Trump administration to remove the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administrations’ decisions would also mean that people with preexisting conditions would not receive treatment under their healthcare plan.

Taxes
Pence repeatedly stated and emphasized during the debate, “If you vote for Biden, your taxes will be raised.” However, this is untrue as Biden has clarified multiple times on his website and his campaign that he will only raise taxes on people making over $400,000.

Fracking
Many Republican politicians are very passionate about the topic of fracking. Pence falsely claimed that if Biden became elected, he would ban fracking. He noted that millions of jobs would be lost from the abolishment of fracking. However, the Biden administration has said that they would not ban fracking; Joe Biden would prohibit new permits on fracking on land however, let the previous operations continue.

The Justice System
The story of Breonna Taylor was shed light on during the debate. Harris clearly stated that justice had not been done regarding her case. She also described that she was attending the peaceful protests for the Black Lives Matter movement. Pence offered sympathies to her family but stated that justice had been done. He then went on to criticize the protests for the Black Lives Matter movement stating that the riots caused many fires and destruction that cities are still facing the repercussions.

Supreme Court
Kamala Harris refused to answer the question concerning packing the courts when elected. However, she deferred the question by raising the fact that the Trump administration is hypocritical as they have already packed the courts. (Over 50 of the judges’ appointed by President Trump for a lifetime are white)

Women’s Rights
With Amy Barrett’s nomination for the supreme court, the topic of women’s rights was also brought up during the debate. Pence stated that the democrats were too concerned with Barrett’s faith and that it will not have an effect on her judgment. However, many are concerned that her Chrisitan beliefs would interfere with abortion laws in the country. Harris stated that it is a women’s choice on what she wants to do with her body. Pence hopped around the topic of abortion but ended his argument with “I am pro-life.”

Others
Pence brought up the trade war with China during the debate several times stating that the US won and glorified the trade war. However, Harris was not afraid to point out how the US economy would now suffer due to the defeat in the trade war. During the debate, Pence interrupted Harris 10 times. While Harris interrupted Pence 5 times. It is also noted that Pence spread false information about a multitude of topics but not limited to: his response to COVID-19, false claims against the Biden administration (their approach on climate change, taxes, and healthcare plans).