Here Are Your Key Takeaways From The Vice Presidential Debate
The vice presidential debate was, well, an actual debate. Both Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence spoke on several real issues impacting American families. Unlike President Donald Trump’s performance at the presidential debate, the two vice presidential candidates maintained some civility and decorum while tackling the issues.
One of the biggest moments of the debate was Sen. Kamala Harris confronting Vice President Mike Pence about interrupting her.
Vice President Pence seemed to want to take a page out of President Trump’s playbook during the debate. VP Pence tried to interrupt the senator as she answered questions but Sen. Harris was not going to let him steamroll over her. Instead, she turned to him as he tried mansplaining things and let him know that, “I’m speaking.”
Women are celebrating Sen. Harris’ assertiveness when being talked over by a white man.
Sen. Harris arguably had one of the most difficult jobs on the debate stage. She has to be poised and assertive without falling into a perceived angry Black woman stereotype. Like most women in politics, and most other aspects of life, Sen. Harris’ job on the debate stage was more than debating and offering facts. This moment of her asserting herself and not letting VP Pence bulldoze her is something young girls need to see.
VP Pence tried to mislead the American people about the administration’s failed Covid response.
VP Pence was asked by the moderator about the staggering death toll of Covid-19 in the U.S. According to the numbers, more people have died in the U.S. per capita than in any other wealthy nation. VP Pence was unable to explain the disastrous outcome of the federal response that he led.
Instead of answering the question, VP Pence tried to shift the focus claiming that Sen. Harris was disparaging the American people who had sacrificed so much. Sen. Harris shot back that the American people have sacrificed more than they should have after the Trump administration lied about the seriousness of Covid-19 and let more than 210,000 people die.
Political opponents pointed out Pence’s urgency in dodging the questions.
Throughout the debate, Pence did little to sway American voters and distract from the Covid crisis. At times, Pence would use his time to speak on previous questions and disregarded the questions asked by Susan Page. At other times Pence tried to speak over Sen. Harris to deny her claims while adding little substance of his own.
Of course, the fly was the fan-favorite during the debate.
People were excited and distracted when a fly landed on VP Pence’s head during the debate. The fly stuck around to Pence’s head for a solid two minutes, which was the time limit for answering questions. Some people have pointed out that the fly showed a better adherence to the time limit rule than Pence did.
The common consensus is that Sen. Harris came out of the debate the winner.
The fact that Pence was unsuccessful in distracting or even remotely explaining the Covid crisis is a loss for the Trump/Pence campaign. Pence had a lot of work to do to overcome Trump’s poor debate performance on Sept. 29. Trump’s attacks on Biden’s family, especially Beau Biden’s drug addiction struggle, pushed uncertain voters farther away from the Trump/Pence ticket.
Oh, and Sen. Harris’ facial expressions have gone viral because they say so much more than words can.
We have all been given these faces when we acted up or lied to our moms. Tbh, seeing Sen. Harris’ faces was a kind of representation we didn’t know could even exist. It was subtle, poignant, and chilling.
