COVID MEASURES SNARL VP DEBATE
Pence initially opposed erecting plexiglass dividers
The nation’s political divide is no longer just a metaphor.
Aides to Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday criticized plans for their candidate to sit behind plexiglass dividers at this week’s vice presidential debate, objecting to a safety measure that the organizers said would help prevent any viral transmission between Pence and his Democratic opponent, Sen. Kamala Harris.
The complaint from Pence’s staff — which was quickly brushed aside by Harris’ team — was another salvo in the fraught negotiations over the debate scheduled for today in Salt Lake City, an event that was brief ly in doubt after President Donald Trump’s announcement that he had contracted the coronavirus.
Late Tuesday, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., a co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, said in an interview that after negotiations, Pence’s staff had agreed to accept the placement of the plexiglass dividers, which were installed on the Utah debate stage earlier in the day.
Questions still remain about the next scheduled debate between Trump and Joe Biden on Oct. 15. Asked on Tuesday if he would feel safe debating the president, Biden told reporters: “I think if he still has COVID, we shouldn’t have a debate.”
Biden added: “I think we
were going to have to follow very strict guidelines. Too many people have been infected. It’s a very serious problem, so I will be guided by the guidelines of the Cleveland Clinic and what the docs say is the right thing to do.”
The Commission on Presidential Debates oversees safety protocols at the debates in consultation with officials from the Cleveland Clinic. The commission had announced on Monday that it would use plexiglass dividers at the event with Harris and Pence, along with mandating that the candidates
be seated 12 feet, 3 inches apart.
But Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, said on Tuesday that he did not want the vice president to appear on national television behind the plastic barriers.
“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. It’s important for the American people that the debate go forward.” Referring to Harris, he said: “If she’s more comfortable with plexiglass, then that’s fine.”
The Biden campaign re
sponded that eliminating dividers would risk the health of those in the debate hall.
“Senator Harris will be at the debate, respecting the protections that the Cleveland Clinic has put in place to promote safety for all concerned,” Sabrina Singh, a Harris spokeswoman, said. “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.”
Pence has tested negative for the virus several times in recent days, accord
ing to his aides, though the vice president had interacted frequently with numerous White House advisers who have since tested positive.
Short, the vice president’s chief of staff, also claimed that an epidemiologist at the University of Utah, which is hosting the debate, “told us that there’s no scientific reason for the plexiglass.” In fact, the Cleveland Clinic is overseeing health protocols at the debate.
Ground rules for debates are often the subject of delicate negotiations between
the campaigns and the debate commission, and it is not unusual for issues to f lare up in the hours before the event.
Pence’s attempted dismissal of a safety measure, however, was notable in light of the myriad health concerns around staging an indoor event when the president and a significant number of his senior advisers have contracted the virus, along with several senators and a top military leader.
One aide to Pence had expressed disdain earlier this week about the use of the barriers, suggesting they could be used to make a candidate look weak. “If Senator Harris wants to use a fortress around herself, have at it,” the aide, Katie Miller, said.
A virtual event is also under consideration for the next debate between Trump and Biden, though those discussions remain in a preliminary phase, according to two people with knowledge of the commission’s deliberations.
Much remains unknown about that debate, including if Trump will be well enough to attend and if Biden’s team would be comfortable with the former vice president’s sharing an indoor stage with a president who has been contagious.