(NEWSMAX) Vice President Mike Pence made a call for the economy as leading “the ballot,” pushing Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., on Joe Biden’s plan to repeal the Trump administration tax cuts.
“Joe Biden says democracy is on the ballot, make no mistake about it Susan,” Pence told debate moderator Susan Page of USA Today, “the American economy, the American comeback is on the ballot, with four more years of growth, four more years of President Donald Trump.”
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are going to pack the Supreme Court if they win this election.
There is no question about it.#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/zq1dz9jI5K
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Harris blasted the administration for reigning over a steep recession. She said Biden would invest in clean new energy, but would not ban steps like fracking and would not up taxes on people making under $400,000.
Pence said Trump is putting jobs first, while Biden wants to undermine progress toward recovery with tax hikes and Green New Deal-type investments.
The candidates were admonished by moderator Page to engage in a “civil” discussion by Rice at the start of the vice presidential debate.
Pence Makes Call for Decorum on Judge Amy Coney Barrett Hearing
“When the hearing takes place,” Pence said, we hope “Judge Amy Coney Barrett will be respected in confirming her to the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Pence added, “I would never presume how Judge Amy Coney Barrett would rule on the Supreme Court of the United States, but we’ll continue to stand strong for the right to life.”
Pence pressed Harris on whether Democrats are going to “pack the Supreme Court.”
Vice President @Mike_Pence: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support taxpayer funding of abortion up until the moment of birth#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/R5ppyObkiE
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Harris did not answer directly, deflecting to Trump seeking to confirm a third conservative nominee.
“I just want the record to show: She did not answer the question,” Pence said.
On Policing: Harris Says “Bad Cops Are Bad for Good Cops”
“We need reform of our policing in America and our criminal justice system,” Harris said.
Pence called out Harris for rejecting the Breonna Taylor grand jury for their decision after looking at all the evidence.
“With regard to George Floyd, there’s no excuse for what happened George Floyd,” Pence said. “Justice will be served. But there’s also no excuse for the rioting and looting that followed. I mean it really is astonishing.”
Vice President @Mike_Pence rips Kamala Harris’s record: When you were DA in San Francisco, African-Americans were 19 times more likely to be prosecuted for minor drug offenses than Whites and Hispanics#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/aJJd5Xkpoi
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Vice President @Mike_Pence: President @realDonaldTrump has condemned white supremacists, Neo-Nazis and the KKK repeatedly#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/TLuqGm4qSF
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Flora Westbrooks, is one of Vice President @Mike_Pence’s guest at the debate tonight.
Her salon was burned to the ground by Left-Wing rioters.
There is no excuse for what happened to George Floyd, but there is also no excuse for rioting and looting.#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/U2x9Mx7jM7
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Peaceful Transition of Power
Pence called on Biden and Democrats for being the merchants of unpeaceful transition of power from 2016.
“When you talk about accepting the outcome of the election, I must tell you, your party has spent the last 3½ years trying to overturn the results of the last election,” Pence said. “It’s amazing when Joe Biden was vice president of the United States, the FBI actually spied on President Trump and my campaign.”
Vice President @Mike_Pence: President @realDonaldTrump not only respects, but reveres, all of those who serve in our Armed Forces and any suggestion otherwise is ridiculous#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/RmBD1q5ax2
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Pence Declares Biden Could Have Saved Kayla Mueller
Pence was joined in the debate hall by the parents of Kayla Mueller, the humanitarian aid worker who was killed by Islamic State militants.
“The reality is that when Joe Biden was vice president we had an opportunity to save Kayla Mueller,” Pence said.
Their presence Wednesday night highlighted action taken by Trump, including the killing of the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in contrast to the approach taken by the Obama administration, which Mueller’s parents have criticized.
Carl and Marsha Mueller were featured in Trump’s State of the Union address earlier this year and spoke at the Republican National convention. In their speech, they asserted, had Trump “been president when Kayla was captured, she would be here today.”
The 26-year-old Mueller was taken captive in August 2013 after leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria.
The debate comes the same day that two Islamic State militants — dubbed part of the “the Beatles” because of their British accents — were brought from Britain to the U.S. to face charges in connection with the deaths of American hostages, including Kayla Mueller.
Vice President @Mike_Pence: Kayla Mueller’s family says that if President @realDonaldTrump had been in office when Joe Biden was, they believe Kayla would still be alive today#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/WZ1w1Hzj6f
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Harris: Biden Has a Plan; Pence ‘It Looks a Bit Like Plagiarism’
Pence rejected Harris’ opening call for Joe Biden having a plan for the pandemic, calling out Biden’s plan as “plagiarism” of what President Donald Trump and the coronavirus task force, led by Pence, has already been doing.
“It looks a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about,” Pence said.
Vice President @Mike_Pence on the Biden-Harris coronavirus plan: “When I look at their plan that talks about advancing testing, creating new PPE, developing a vaccine, it looks a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about.”#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/f9Iwmylgib
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Separated by plexiglass barriers, Pence and Harris sparred over the Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic.
“The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country,” Harris charged as Pence, who leads the president’s coronavirus task force, shook his head.
Pence acknowledged, “Our nation’s gone through a very challenging time this year.”
“I want the American people to know, from the very first day, President Trump has put the health of America first,” Pence said, promising millions of doses of a yet-to-be-announced treatment before the end of the year.
The candidates debated in an auditorium where any guest who refused to wear a face mask was to be asked to leave, an extraordinary backdrop for the only vice presidential debate of 2020.
Transparency on Death, Taxes
Harris pivoted on a question about the president’s health disclosures to his transparency on his taxes.
“Joe Biden has been so incredibly transparent and certainly, by contrast, the president has not, on both in terms of health records but also let’s look at taxes,” Harris said.
Pence responded quickly Trump has paid millions in taxes.
“He’s paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes, payroll taxes, property taxes,” Pence said. “He’s created tens of thousands of American jobs.”
Vice President @Mike_Pence: President @realDonaldTrump kept his promise to move the Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem and make NATO pay their fair share#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/8RUpyUpSHl
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
Vice President @Mike_Pence: “America, you just heard Senator Harris tell you – on day one – Joe Biden is going to raise your taxes.”#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/qfO4iCCRt6
— Team Trump (Text VOTE to 88022) (@TeamTrump) October 8, 2020
