The Presidential Conventions / Debates

Published 1 hour ago
Top 5 vice presidential debate moments between Pence, Harris
Coronavirus, packing the Supreme Court and more were on the table in the debate between the vice presidential candidates
By Tyler Olson | Fox News

In a debate that was both contentious but also cooled down by several degrees compared to last week's presidential debate, Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris squared off Wednesday night on topics ranging from the pandemic to health care to the USMCA.

Pence and Harris, D-Calif., one of whom no matter what will be the vice president to the oldest president of the United States ever elected by January, met in what will be their only face-to-face public appearance ahead of the election. Along with their convention speeches, the Wednesday debate will likely be their highest-profile moment during the campaign.

Here are the top five moments of the vice presidential debate.

1. Coronavirus dustup

Harris opened the debate with aggressive broadsides against the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic, taking her attack on its coronavirus response directly to the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

"The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country," Harris said.

"On Jan. 28 the vice president and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic," she continued. "And they knew what was happening and they didn't tell you... They knew and they covered it up. The president said it was a hoax."

Harris: If Trump tells us we have a COVID vaccine, 'I'm not taking it'Video
Harris added: "This administration has forfeited their right to reelection based on this."

Pence responded by arguing that Joe Biden opposed some of the Trump administration's earliest actions on the coronavirus.

"I want the American people to know that from the very first day President Donald Trump has put the health of America first," Pence said before mentioning the ban on travel from China that Trump imposed. "Joe Biden opposed that decision, he said it was xenophobic and hysterical."

And in response to Harris' allegations that the Trump administration doesn't have a plan for the pandemic and Biden does, Pence said that Biden's plans are very similar to testing, tracing and other efforts the Trump administration has worked on.

"When I look at their plan," Pence said, "it looks a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about."

Harris shot back that whatever Pence said Trump are doing, it "clearly hasn't worked," citing "210,000 dead bodies."

2. "I'm not taking it"

Moderator Susan Page asked Harris whether she would take a vaccine that is approved by the Trump administration before the year is out. Harris and other Democrats have been accused recently of casting doubt on the effectiveness and reliability of a potential coronavirus vaccine, and polls show that faith in a vaccine may be dwindling.

Harris made clear that if a vaccine is vocally supported by medical professionals like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, she would be "first in the line to take it."

But, Harris said, "If Donald Trump tells us we should take it, I'm not taking it."

Pence responded with incredulity.

"The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine .. is unconscionable," Pence said. "I ask you, stop playing politics with peoples' lives."

3. Debate over the truth

A discussion about economic policy turned to a debate over who is telling the truth to the American people.

As Pence was accusing Harris of telling the American people that she would immediately raise their taxes upon assuming office, Harris smiled and said "That's not what I said" while shaking her said.

What Harris said was that Biden "believes you measure the health and strength of America's economy based on the health and the strength of the American worker and the American family. On the other hand, you have Donald Trump, who measures the strength of the economy based on how rich people are doing. Which is why he passed a tax bill benefiting the top 1% and the biggest corporations of America, leading to a two trillion dollar deficit that the American people are going to have to pay for. On day one, Joe Biden will repeal that tax bill. He'll get rid of it."

Their fundamental difference, apparently, was whether the Trump tax cuts actually helped middle-class Americans.

After Pence finished his point, Harris alluded to last week when the presidential debate became an unmanageable mess of interruptions from Trump while Biden was on several occasions just repeating "that's not true" as Trump talked.

"We saw enough of it in last week's debate, but I think this is supposed to be a debate based on fact and truth, and the truth and the fact is Joe Biden has been very clear. He will not raise taxes on anybody who makes less than $400,000 a year," Harris said.

Pence shot back: "Joe Biden said twice in the debate last week that he's going to repeal the Trump tax cuts. That was tax cuts that gave the average working family to a thousand dollars in a tax break every single year."

Harris responded, "That is absolutely not true."

"Is he only going to repeal part of the Trump tax cuts?" Pence asked.

The exchange was emblematic of the polarized state of politics in 2020, with each side approaching the issue not just from completely different perspectives, but from a completely different set of facts. As Page tried to get the candidates to move on to talking about the climate, Pence and Harris continued to shoot barbs at each other over Pence's claim that Biden would raise taxes as well as his claim that Biden would ban fracking.

"You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts," Pence repeated multiple times throughout the remainder of the debate. He could be heard scoffing at one point as Harris reiterated that Biden would not ban fracking.

4. Foreign policy gets personal

Pence and Harris talked about foreign policy in what eventually became personal terms, with Harris assaulting Trump for apparent immorality hurting the United States on the world stage.

"What we have seen with Donald Trump is that he has betrayed our friends and... embraced dictators around the world," Harris said. "He doesn't understand what it means to be honest."

Pence said Trump kept his word when he moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and emphasized that Trump has overseen significant successes in the fight against ISIS.

Pence then attacked Biden over the death of Kayla Mueller, who was abducted by ISIS along with her boyfriend in 2013 after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria. Mueller's parents blame the Obama administration for failing to save her life and were Pence's guests at the debate Wednesday.

"The reality is that when Joe Biden was vice president, we had an opportunity to save Kayla Mueller," Pence said. "The military came into the Oval Office, presented a plan. They said they knew where Kayla was... But when Joe Biden was vice president, they hesitated for a month. And when armed forces finally went in, it was clear she had been moved two days earlier."

"I'm so sorry," Harris said to Mueller's parents before going on to attack Trump for his reported comments about military members.

"This is about a pattern of Donald Trump's where he has referred to our men who are serving in our military as suckers and losers," Harris said. "Donald Trump, who went to Arlington Cemetery and stood above the graves of our fallen heroes and said, 'What's in it for them?' Because, of course, you know, he only thinks about what's in it for him."

"President Donald Trump not only respects but reveres all of those who serve in our armed forces," Pence said. "And any suggestion otherwise is ridiculous."

Pence demanded more time to respond to Harris' accusations, but Page wouldn't let him continue, citing the fact that the campaigns had agreed to certain rules. Pence continued to talk about the military issue after being asked a question about abortion.

5. Court-packing questions

Pence and Harris went back and forth over the vacant Supreme Court seat during the debate, with Pence extolling the administration's nominee for the seat, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and Harris emphasizing that there has never been a Supreme Court nominee confirmed this close to a presidential election.

At one point, Pence asked Harris point-blank whether she and Biden would pack the Supreme Court if they win the presidential election.

"Are you and Joe Biden, if somehow you win this election, going to pack the Supreme Court to get your way?" he said.

"I'm so glad we went through a little history lesson," Harris responded before changing the topic back to the timing of the Supreme Court vacancy.

Harris yet again did not give an answer about whether a Biden administration would pack the Supreme Court. She and Biden have been asked that question numerous times and have not yet provided an answer.

Pence told the camera that Harris and Biden would.

Bonus moment: "I'm the only one on this stage"

As the debate was coming to a close, Harris took the time to remind viewers of her past as a prosecutor after Pence made a point about law enforcement.

"I'm the only one on this stage who has personally prosecuted everything from child sexual assault to homicide," Harris said. "I'm the only one on the stage who has prosecuted, the big banks for taking advantage of America's homeowners. I'm the only one on this stage who prosecuted for-profit colleges for taking advantage of our veterans."

It was the first moment in which Harris explicitly referenced her past as a prosecutor, including as the former attorney general of California, which has been controversial in some liberal circles.

Double Bonus: Fly steals the show

A fly landed on Pence's head. And stayed there. For minutes. It was a silly part of what was a much more substantive and productive debate than the first presidential faceoff. But it spurred online parodies from the left -- Joe Biden immediately started fundraising off the fly and created the URL "flywillvote.com" to help voters register -- and the right -- Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., lamented that the "deep state planted a bug on @VP. The illegal spying is really out of control."

Published 1 hour ago, Last Update 56 mins ago
Trump says he will 'not waste my time' with a 'virtual debate' after CPD announces changes
Trump tells Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo a virtual debate would be 'ridiculous'
By Brooke Singman | Fox News

President Trump, in his first interview since his positive coronavirus test, told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on Thursday that he will not participate in the next debate, just minutes after the Commission on Presidential Debates announced the showdown, slated for Oct. 15, will be virtual.

The CPD announced early Tuesday that "the second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which the candidates would participate from separate remote locations." Steve Scully of C-SPAN is still set to moderate the second presidential debate from Miami.

But, in a Fox Business interview Thursday, the president said he would not take part in a virtual debate.

"The commission changed the debate style and that's not acceptable to us," Trump said on "Mornings with Maria." "I beat him in the first debate, I beat him easily."

The president added that he expected to "beat him in the second debate also."

"I'm not going to do a virtual debate," Trump went on. "I’m not going to waste my time at a virtual debate."

The president said he wasn't going to "sit at a computer" to debate, calling it "ridiculous."

"They're trying to protect Biden," Trump said. "Everybody is."

Moments later, Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien said the CPD was rushing to Biden's "defense by unilaterally canceling an in-person debate," calling it "pathetic."

"That’s not what debates are about or how they’re done," Stepien said. "Here are the facts: President Trump will have posted multiple negative tests prior to the debate, so there is no need for this unilateral declaration. The safety of all involved can easily be achieved without canceling a chance for voters to see both candidates go head to head."

He added: "We’ll pass on this sad excuse to bail out Joe Biden and do a rally instead.”

But the Biden campaign seemingly accepted the rules change early Thursday.

"Vice President Biden looks forward to speaking directly to the American people and comparing his plan for bringing the country together and building back better with Donald Trump's failed leadership on the coronavirus that has thrown the strong economy he inherited into the worst downturn since the Great Depression," Biden's deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said in a statement.

The debate format changes come less than a week after the president announced he and first lady Melania Trump tested positive for the novel coronavirus. That announcement threw the status of all future 2020 debates in doubt, though the debate between Vice President Mike Pence and California Sen. Kamala Harris went on as planned Wednesday night with on-stage dividers between the candidates after both had tested negative for the coronavirus.

Trump was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday, after his medical team said he could continue his coronavirus treatment from the White House. He had his reelection campaign at the forefront of his mind, tweeting shortly before departing that he would soon be back on the campaign trail, while blasting polls that showed him trailing Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

“Will be back on the Campaign Trail soon!!! The Fake News only shows the Fake Polls,” Trump tweeted before being discharged from Walter Reed Monday.


Meanwhile, shortly after the president returned to the White House, where he continued to be treated for COVID-19, his campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said the president planned to take part in the debates.

"The president intends to debate," Murtaugh told Fox News Monday.

Symone Sanders, a senior campaign adviser to Biden, said on Sunday that the former vice president was “looking forward” to the Oct. 15 town hall-style debate in Miami and that he hoped Trump would be well enough to attend.

"We are looking forward to the debate on Oct. 15 in Miami," Sanders said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union" on Sunday. "It’s a town hall and, as you know, Vice President Biden loves a good town hall.”

Sanders added: “And we are hoping President Trump can participate. We're hoping that he's medically able to participate, and that is up to his doctors to clear him. But Joe Biden will be at that debate."

Since Trump’s announcement of his positive coronavirus test, numerous members of his White House inner circle and his reelection campaign have come down with the contagion.

Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien also tested positive for COVID-19 and is working remotely. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced Monday that she had tested positive for COVID-19, in addition to other White House staff who have tested positive including senior adviser Hope Hicks, Stephen Miller and director of Oval Office operations Nick Luna.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, White House physician Dr. Sean Conley said that the president has been “fever-free” for four days and has not had any symptoms of the novel coronavirus for “over 24 hours.”


“The President this morning says ‘I feel great!’,” Conley wrote in a memo to McEnany. “His physical exam and vital signs, including oxygen saturation and respiratory rate, all remain stable and in normal range.”

Conley added that the president has “now been fever-free for more than 4 days, symptom-free for over 24 hours, and has not needed nor received any supplemental oxygen since initial hospitalization.”

“Of note today, the President’s labs demonstrated detectable levels of SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies from labs drawn Monday, October 5th; initial IgG levels drawn late Thursday night were undetectable,” Conley continued, adding that the president’s medical team will “continue to closely monitor” and will provide updates as necessary.

The Wise And Powerful wrote:

Published 1 hour ago


Double Bonus: Fly steals the show

That li'l fukker is an overnight internet celebrity. Shoot, until he showed up nobody even suspected Pence had ANY friends that were black.

Peaches wrote:

The Wise And Powerful wrote:

Published 1 hour ago


Double Bonus: Fly steals the show

That li'l fukker is an overnight internet celebrity.  Shoot, until he showed up nobody even suspected Pence had ANY friends that were black.

US election: Trump and Biden deflect key questions in TV grilling
Published7 hours ago

US President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden have batted away key questions during separate meet-the-voter TV events.

Mr Trump, a Republican, declined to disavow a bizarre online conspiracy, while Mr Biden, a Democrat, would not divulge plans for the Supreme Court.

Both candidates were on the defensive at times on their records, Mr Trump for a range of issues and Mr Biden on race.

Opinion polls indicate Mr Biden has a solid lead over Mr Trump.

However, polling is still very close in several key states which could decide the election.

More than 18 million people have already voted in person or by post for the 3 November vote.

Thursday night's town halls, as TV voter question-and-answer events are known in the US, replaced a cancelled second presidential debate. Mr Trump had refused to join that showdown virtually, following the recent Covid-19 diagnosis from which he now appears fully recovered.

What were the key moments for Trump?

During his primetime event hosted by TV network NBC in Miami, Florida, the president was asked about the QAnon conspiracy theory, whose adherents believe that Mr Trump is battling a clandestine network of elites, often involving Satanic plots and child trafficking.

When moderator Savannah Guthrie asked Mr Trump whether he would reject them, he replied: "I know nothing about QAnon."

Mr Trump spent much of the broadcast arguing with the moderator.

Ms Guthrie said she had just told him about the group, which has been labelled a potential terrorist threat by the FBI.

The president said: "I know nothing about it, I do know they are very much against paedophilia, they fight it very hard."

Mr Trump instead turned his fire on antifa, a loose-knit movement of mainly far-left activists blamed by the US Department of Justice for civil disorder in American cities during racial justice protests over the last few months.

For the first time, the president said he would accept a peaceful transfer of power if he lost next month's election, even as he expressed fears for the integrity of the vote. Federal election officials say there has been no evidence of widespread ballot fraud.

"And then they talk, 'will you accept a peaceful transfer,'" Mr Trump said. "And the answer is, 'Yes, I will.' But I want it to be an honest election, and so does everybody else."

Mr Trump deflected other questions about healthcare and tax returns and whether he took a coronavirus test on the day of his last debate with Mr Biden, saying: "Possibly I did, possibly I didn't."

The president spent much of the town hall arguing with the moderator, who disputed many of his statements.

But he beamed when one female voter prefaced her question by saying: "You're so handsome when you smile!"

Analysis box by Anthony Zurcher, North America reporter:

While the candidate events had the same format, that's where the similarities ended.

President Trump's evening was contentious. Moderator Savannah Guthrie peppered him follow-ups when he seemed evasive. The president was quicker on his feet and more congenial than during the first debate, but there's no question he was once again playing defence.

Flip channels to the Biden town hall, and the tenor was subdued. Moderator George Stephanopoulos allowed the former vice-president to give long, sometimes circuitous answers. It had the feel of a public-interest talk show, complete with solemn readings from the US Constitution before commercial breaks.

Mr Trump's forum made for more entertaining television - and almost certainly will have attracted more viewers. But that could be a blessing and a curse if what American voters want in November is something a little more, well, boring.

What were the key moments for Biden?

The Democrat demurred when asked during the ABC TV network's town hall in Philadelphia whether he supported court packing, which would entail adding seats to the US Supreme Court and appointing justices to influence the ideological balance of its rulings.

Mr Biden didn't commit to making a Covid-19 vaccine mandatory.

Mr Biden has recently been ducking questions on the issue, leading conservatives to argue he is planning to tamper with the judiciary, which is the third branch of US government.

The former vice-president, who served under Barack Obama, gave conflicting answers again on Thursday night, at first saying: "I have not been a fan of court packing. I'm not a fan."

But then moderator George Stephanopoulos asked Mr Biden whether he would be open to expanding the number of justices if Republicans confirmed Mr Trump's current nominee for an existing vacancy on the nine-seat Supreme Court.

"I'm open to considering what happens from that point on," he said, though he declined to reveal his stance on the issue.

"Depending on how they handle this," he added, apparently referring to the expected Republican confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

There was controversy over NBC's decision to hold the meeting with Mr Trump at the same time as the Biden event.

Mr Biden deflected again when asked whether his role in helping draft the 1994 crime bill, which the Black Lives Matter movement has blamed for mass incarceration of African Americans, was a mistake.

"Yes it was," he said. "But here's where the mistake came: the mistake came in terms of what the states did locally."

"It [the bill] had a lot of other things in it that turned out to be both bad and good," he added.

Mr Biden hedged on whether he would make a future coronavirus vaccine mandatory.

"It depends on the state of the nature of the vaccine, when it comes out, how it's distributed," he said.

Another presidential debate on 22 October is still scheduled to take place, though it is unclear in what format. The first debate last month descended into insults between the two candidates.

Debate fact checking:

https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2020-54645608

Temple wrote:

10-29-2020

President Donald Trump announced that his Fayetteville, North Carolina rally would be canceled Monday due to “high speed winds and bad weather.”

///

"high speed winds and bad weather” in Washington, perhaps???

The Wise And Powerful wrote:

Temple wrote:

10-29-2020

President Donald Trump announced that his Fayetteville, North Carolina rally would be canceled Monday due to “high speed winds and bad weather.”

///

"high speed winds and bad weather” in Washington, perhaps???

I dunno-- I'm so sick of this stuff..
Even after the election, there will be moths more, sigh..
Either trump or Biden will win.
Just accept one or the other and have it over with.
But- that will never ever happen ahaa!
there will be War or whatever in kind.

President Trump to make three visits to Michigan in the next four days
by: Adam Fisherm Posted: Oct 29, 2020 / 11:16 AM EDT

Mich. (WLNS)– If it wasn’t clear the road to the White House runs through Michigan, take a look at the president’s schedule over the next couple of days.

Today it was reported the president plans hold campaign rallies three times in the Mitten, over the next four days.

President Trump to hold second Michigan rally in a week on Friday

It was previously announced President Trump would make a campaign stop in Waterford Township, and today his schedule now includes a Sunday stop in  Sterling Heights and a Monday rally in Grand Rapids.

Grand Rapids was the president’s final campaign stop in the early hours of election day in 2016. Later that day he went on to defeat former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

On the opposing side, former Vice President Joe Biden will join President Barrack Obama in a campaign stop on Saturday in the Detroit Area.

US Election 2020: Joe Biden snaps at 'ugly' Trump hecklers
Published 7 hours ago | BBC News

As his speech was disrupted by Trump supporters honking car horns near the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, the Democratic White House candidate called them "ugly folks".