While Wednesday night’s debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris was far more civil than last week’s train wreck, getting a straight answer from the Republican side still presented a serious challenge. Pence failed to answer directly about the coronavirus death toll, Donald Trump’s supposed plan for protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions, the imperiled future of Roe v. Wade, and whether he’d accept a peaceful transition of power. He also gave non-answers; when asked whether climate change is an existential threat, he observed that “the climate is changing” and “we’ll follow the science,” an odd claim given his boss’s dismissal of scientific expertise, along with rolling back Obama-era environmental protections. In response to Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacists, Pence sidestepped again by pointing out that Trump has a Jewish son-in-law and daughter who converted to Judaism.
Right off the bat, Harris effectively made the case against Trump and Pence’s response to the pandemic, citing statistics to reflect the administration’s colossal failures. Asked what the Biden administration would do to control the pandemic, Harris pointed to the reality that the president and Pence, the leader of the coronavirus task force, knew about the severity of the threat in January and didn’t take appropriate action. After addressing the more than 200,000 Americans who have died from COVID-19, Pence had little to offer but empty condolences. “You’ll always be in our hearts.” Rather than answering for the administration’s failed pandemic response, Pence repeatedly referred to “the American people,” pinning responsibility onto individuals as the White House has throughout the pandemic. He emphasized freedom of choice, regardless of whether those choices are in the interest of public health. “Let’s talk about respecting the American people,” Harris shot back. “You respect the American people when you tell them the truth.” She concluded that, based on their bungling of the pandemic, “this administration has forfeited their right to reelection.”
Harris’s responses to being interrupted by Pence—something that happened often—were standout moments. “Mr. Vice President, I’m speaking, ok?” Harris said at one point. “If you don’t mind letting me finish, we can have a conversation.”
Pence also tried shifting the focus to China, twice praising Trump’s ineffective travel ban at the beginning of the pandemic. “Whatever the vice president is claiming the administration has done, clearly it hasn’t worked,” Harris shot back. When Harris said she would only take a vaccine if experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci approved it, Pence offered a distorted reading of her remarks. “Stop playing politics with people’s lives,” he said, adding that Harris’s so-called “undermining” of a vaccine is “unacceptable.” Pence avoided answering whether voters have a right to know about Trump’s medical history, while Harris made a strong pivot from Trump’s lack of medical transparency to his unprecedented refusal to release his tax records. “It would be really good to know who the commander-in-chief owes money to,” she said, noting the New York Times’ investigation revealing he owed more than $400 million.
Along with the coronavirus, Harris drilled down on health care, issuing a grim warning to the 23 million Americans who could lose their health insurance if Obamacare is struck down. “If you have a preexisting condition—heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer—they’re coming for you,” Harris said. “If you love someone who has a preexisting condition, they’re coming for you. If you are under the age of 26 on your parents’ coverage, they’re coming for you.” Trump has repeatedly claimed he would protect Americans with preexisting conditions but has yet to provide a plan to do so—and Pence similarly offered no detailed explanation. He instead shifted subjects, asking Harris whether a Biden administration would try to expand the Supreme Court. When Harris dodged that question, Pence, despite his own slew of evasions and non-answers, called her out.
On the topic of the Supreme Court and Roe v. Wade, Pence brought up the killing of Iranian General Qassim Suleimani before suggesting Democrats are anti-Catholic, neither of which answered moderator Susan Page’s question about abortion. Pence portrayed Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as a victim of religious bias, something that Harris called “insulting” given that she and Biden are both “people of faith,” noting that Biden, if elected, would be only the second practicing Catholic in the White House. Moments later, Pence offered his personal view on abortion. “I’m pro-life. I don’t apologize for it.”
Harris concluded the debate by telling viewers to vote; Pence spewed conspiracies, again not directly answering Page’s question about what he would do if the president does not accept defeat and refuses to carry out a peaceful transition of power. “I believe we are going to win,” he said.