The vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris has wrapped. The candidates debated for 90 minutes about several topics, including coronavirus, the economy, foreign policy, race and police reform.
Harris made history tonight, becoming the first Black and South Asian woman to participate in a general election debate.
If you are just reading in, here are some key moments from the showdown:
On President Trump's taxes:
- Harris: “Just so everyone is clear, when we say in debt, it means you owe money to somebody. It would be really good to know who the President of the United States, the commander-in-chief, owes money to,” Harris said. “Because the American people have a right to know what is influencing the President's decisions. And is he making those decisions on the best interests of the American people, of you, or self-interest?”
- Pence: "The American people have a President who a businessman, a job creator. He's paid tens of millions of dollar in taxes, payroll, property taxes. Creating tens of thousands of American jobs. The President said the reports are not accurate. The President's also released stacks of financial disclosures, the American people can review just as the law allows," the vice president said.
On the coronavirus vaccine:
- Pence: "The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine, if a vaccine emerges during the Trump administration, I think is unconscionable,” Pence said. “Senator, I just ask you, stop playing politics with people’s lives.”
- Harris: “If Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I’ll be the first in line to take it. Absolutely,” Harris said. “But if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I’m not taking it.”
On adding seats to the Supreme Court:
- Pence: "This is a classic case of, if you can't win by the rules, you're going to change the rules," Pence said, turning to Harris and asking directly if she and Biden were "going to pack the Supreme Court to get your way?"
- Harris: "Joe and I are very clear: The American people are voting right now. And it should be their decision about who will serve on (the court) ... for a lifetime," she said.
On police violence and the death of Breonna Taylor:
- Harris: "I've talked with Breonna's mother and her family, and her family deserves justice. She was a beautiful young woman," Harris said. "Bad cops are bad for good cops. We need reform of policing in America and our criminal justice system. That's why Joe and I will immediately ban choke holds and carotid holds."
- Pence: "[T]he family of Breonna Taylor has our sympathies. But I trust our justice system," Pence said. "This presumption that you hear from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris that America is systemically racist, and as Joe Biden said, he believes that law enforcement has an implicit bias against minorities, it's a great insult to the men and women who serve in law enforcement."
On trade:
- Harris: “The vice president earlier said it’s what he thinks as an accomplishment that the President’s trade war with China,” Harris said. “You lost that trade war. You lost it. What ended up happening is because of a so-called trade war with China, America lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs.”
- Pence: “Lost the trade war with China? Joe Biden never fought it," he said.
On climate change:
- Harris: "Let's talk about who is prepared to lead our country over the course of the next four years on what is an existential threat to us as human beings. Joe is about saying, 'We're going to invest in renewable energy,' it's going to be about the creation of millions of jobs, we will achieve zero emissions by 2050, carbon neutral by 2035. Joe has a plan," Harris said.
- Pence: "There are no more hurricanes today than there were 100 years ago, but many climate alarmists use hurricanes and fires to try and sell the Green New Deal," Pence said.
