Pence, Harris to clash in VP debate amid White House virus outbreak
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[October 07, 2020]
By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence and
Democratic challenger Kamala Harris will square off on Wednesday in
their only debate, as President Donald Trump's coronavirus diagnosis and
the ongoing pandemic continue to roil the U.S. presidential contest.
The televised clash comes at a precarious moment for the Trump-Pence
re-election campaign, less than a week after the president announced he
had contracted COVID-19 amid a White House outbreak that has infected
numerous high-profile Republicans.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, is
leading Trump in national polls, including an advantage of 12 percentage
points in the latest Reuters/Ipsos survey of likely voters, with less
than four weeks until the Nov. 3 election.
Late on Tuesday, the two sides were still arguing over Harris' request
for plexiglass barriers on stage to lessen the chance of infection. CNN
reported that a member of the commission that oversees the debate said
Pence would be permitted to appear without a barrier, while Harris would
have one on her side of the stage if desired.
Both Pence and Harris, a U.S. senator, tested negative for the
coronavirus on Tuesday. Current government guidelines call for anyone
exposed to someone with COVID-19 to quarantine for 14 days regardless of
test results.
Pence's spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, Harris spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said, "If the Trump
administration's war on masks has now become a war on safety shields,
that tells you everything you need to know about why their COVID
response is a failure."
With two septuagenarians at the top of the ballot, the debate could take
on greater importance than in other years, when the vice presidential
match-up was largely seen as an afterthought to the presidential
debates. Both Pence and Harris will seek to demonstrate that they can
step into the Oval Office if necessary to lead the country.
Trump, 74, returned to the White House on Monday after three days in a
military hospital. It is unclear when he will again be able to campaign.
Trump has said he plans to participate in the Oct. 15 presidential
debate.
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Democratic U.S. vice presidential nominee Senator Kamala Harris
speaks at a campaign event in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
September 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake
The pandemic is likely to dominate the proceedings. Biden, 77, and
Harris, 55, have made Trump's handling of the disease the central
theme of their campaign, blaming Trump for deliberately downplaying
the health risks and failing to endorse mask-wearing.
The 61-year-old Pence, who headed up the administration's
coronavirus task force, will defend Trump's response to the virus,
which has killed 210,000 Americans and decimated the U.S. economy
even as other wealthy nations have managed to get the disease under
control.
Viewers will have a constant reminder of the pandemic's effect on
daily life: Pence and Harris will be more than 12 feet apart on
stage at the University of Utah, in addition to the plexiglass
barrier
In preparation for the debate, Harris got help from former
Democratic presidential primary rival Pete Buttigieg, a former mayor
of South Bend, Indiana, who is familiar with Pence's past record
when he was governor of the state.
The debate is unlikely to match the sheer chaos of the first
presidential debate last week, when Trump repeatedly interrupted
Biden and the two traded insults. Pence, who once hosted a radio
show as a congressman, and Harris, a former prosecutor known for
sharp questioning during Senate hearings, are both seen as polished
communicators.
A Biden campaign official said Harris has prepared for Pence to
attack her as too liberal, echoing Trump's assertion that the
moderate Biden will advance a "radical left-wing" agenda if elected.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Leslie
Adler)
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