Vice President Mike Pence finally accepted late Tuesday the placement of plexiglass dividers during Wednesday’s vice presidential debate after criticizing the move to protect against coronavirus infection.
Late Tuesday, Frank Fahrenkopf, a co-chair of the Commission on Presidential Debates told the New York Times in an interview that following negotiations with Pence’s team the vice president had ultimately accepted the dividers, which had been installed on the Utah debate stage earlier in the day based on consultation with officials from the Cleveland Clinic.
Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, challenged the precaution earlier on Tuesday, saying there was “no scientific reason for the plexiglass.”
“We don’t think it’s needed,” Short said. “There’s no science to support it. The tables are 12 feet apart, and each participant is tested.”
The initial dismissal of the safety measure by Pence’s team comes after the White House became a hotspot for coronavirus — with the President falling ill with the virus after mocking masks and undermining the guidance of scientists within his own administration. A growing list of White House staffers have reported positive tests for coronavirus since Trump’s announcement early Friday.
Amid ongoing resistance to mask-wearing that’s been led for many months by Trump, debate-organizers also said they would remove any audience members who refuse to wear masks. Trump’s family and aides notably defied rules set by the Cleveland Clinic at the first presidential debate just weeks ago.
Sabrina Singh a spokesperson for Kamala Harris, said that the Democratic vice presidential nominee would appear at the debate and would be “respecting the protections that the Cleveland Clinic has put in place to promote safety for all concerned.”
“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,” Singh said.
The chances that Pence isn’t carrying the corona virus are probably less than 50%. He’s been at 3 super spreader events (at least), and has had people around him who are in proximity to others who have tested positive (Karen Pence, Katie Miller, among others).
I assume Pence will lie or mislead about his testing situation.
My only goal for Harris tonight is to get out of there safely and to make sure she doesn’t get infected and that she doesn’t infect Biden. That’s basically it.
I have little doubt that she’ll make her points about the Administration’s failures and that she will open eyes by highlighting the plight of women and minorities under this administration.
Harris has advantages in that the audience will be more Democratic b/c she is interesting and Pence is boring. Harris also has better favorables, so a professional demeanor and a few sharp answers, and talking directly to the audience will go over well. Minorities will connect with her in this moment. All she has to do is turn every bs ‘gotcha’ question around and throw it back in the moderator’s face.
Pence will have a steady diet of ‘radical left’ pejoratives. Her job is to brush that aside and hit the administration on their record. Just keep jabbing. No knock out blows needed here.
Behaving like a mature, reasonable adult is hard.
Now we are learning Trump may not have been tested on a routine basis. Why should we think Pence is routinely tested?
Check out latest Lincoln Project AD.
Singer is Patti Lapone, the original Evita on Broadway.
“I still have the lung power and wore less makeup. This revival ends November 3rd!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tZVnbDq9B4Just waiting for Senator Harris to open up her can of whupass on Q-Tip.
for a Trump republican.