2020 Vice Presidential debate: A discussion worth the buzz
2020 Vice Presidential debate: A discussion worth the buzz
Emma Valdiserri / Asst. News Editor
Time is flying as the election is just less than a month away. The first and only vice presidential debate of the 2020 election season happened last week between Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President, Mike Pence. Unlike the previous presidential debate between Joe Biden and President Trump, it’s safe to say these 90 minutes followed a more traditional route, giving the American people the discussion of policy they’ve anxiously been waiting for.
The debate took place at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, and USA Today’s Susan Page moderated it. The discussion consisted of nine separate segments, each lasting between eight to 10 minutes. Each candidate was allowed two minutes to discuss each topic, with the rest of the segment followed by open discussion. Harris and Pence were seated and separated by plexiglass as they made their debuts to the nation.
Once again, USD Votes in collaboration with the university’s political science department held a discussion board on Discord, a messaging platform where faculty and students were able to share and discuss their thoughts and questions about the debate. Several news publications like The New York Times had a running fact checker during the debate, classifying many of the candidates’ claims as either lacking evidence, misleading, or false.
In regards to the debate and expectations going into it, senior Ashley Raines expressed her opinion about the discussion.
“The debate couldn’t really go anywhere but up from the first one,” Raines said. “I definitely thought it would be more tame, but I was also expecting it to be a little tense, which it was at certain points.”
The segments covered many of the similar topics discussed in the first presidential debate, including COVID-19, the recent SCOTUS nomination, the economy, healthcare, racial justice, and climate change. Another one of the segments was dedicated to a discussion about China and asked Harris or Pence to define the relationship between China and the U.S..
When discussing COVID-19 and how each candidate’s administration would approach the pandemic in the coming months, Harris claimed the way the Trump administration had handled the virus was “the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.” Pence, in retaliation, claimed President Trump had saved the nation by suspending travel from China and that Biden had said this was both “xenophobic and hysterical.” According to The New York Times fact checking system, President Trump did not ban all travel from China and Biden is not recorded to have called Trump’s decision xenophobic.
Another major topic centered around the economy; an opportunity for the Trump campaign to convince voters concerned about taxes to support the President’s re-election. Pence repeatedly stated Biden and Harris would raise taxes immediately. In rebuttal, Harris said taxes would only be raised for individuals making over $400,000 a year, claiming Biden would use the tax money as an investment in the American people.
Harris claimed the tax bill signed by Trump in 2017 was only beneficial to large corporations and the top one percent of the nation. If elected, Harris said, “On day one, Joe Biden will repeal that bill.” According to the New York Times, this statement was proven false, indicating that Biden’s campaign had stated it would only repeal some of tax cuts and the process to do so would take much longer than a day.
Throughout the debate, many questions asked were left unanswered. When the candidates were asked about the discussion of the safeguards and procedures of presidential disability, Harris answered more to why Biden had selected her as his running mate, stating her accomplishments as a senator and her shared values with Biden. On the other hand, Pence avoided the question and spent most of his two minutes defending Trump about how the administration handled the virus.
During the open discussion about the SCOTUS nomination, Pence repeatedly asked Harris why she and Joe Biden have refused to answer whether or not they plan to pack the court if they become elected. The New York Times fact checker stated this to be true on Pence’s behalf. While Harris did not get around to answering the question, she turned it around on Pence and retaliated with the notion that not a single one of the judges the Trump administration has nominated to courts is Black.
Toward the end of the debate, the candidates were asked to tackle an eighth grader’s question that asked how it would be possible for the American people to get along if the country’s political leaders are unable to.
“I think the candidates finally realized they needed to act like grownups, especially if an eighth grader could,” Raines said. “So that was somewhat refreshing.”
Despite there being a lot of tip-toeing around questions, the debate was incomparably better than the first presidential debate in terms of discussing policy and leaving space for both candidates to speak their truths with fewer instances of interruption.
Since the debate, the media has been buzzing about what the candidates discussed and whether the debate had an impact on the American people.
“After this, I feel like Trump supporters will see Pence as a good substitute in case anything were to happen to Trump,” Raines said. “But I also think Kamala did a really great job connecting to moderates and progressives.”
The next presidential debate has been canceled after President Trump, who has recently contracted COVID-19, refused to participate in a virtual discussion, claiming it as a waste of time. Therefore, the third and final debate is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22nd at 6 p.m. (PT). It’s safe to say America is hoping for a more civil debate as President Trump and Joe Biden skip to round three.