(UPDATE 10:50 p.m. ET) Asked a question written by a student about division in the US, particularly relating to partisanship. Pence recalled the friendship of RGB and Scalia, and that Americans always come together, even after vigorous debate. Harris referenced the reason Joe Biden ran: the hate that was evident at Charlottesville, and how he saw the division striking the country. Harris noted Biden’s history of reaching across the aisle, and she encouraged people, particularly the future leaders like Brecklin, to get engaged in the political system.
(UPDATE 10:48 p.m. ET) Asked about Trump unwillingness to state he’d support a peaceful transition of power, Harris noted the bipartisan support as well as the support of former military. Harris said they’re supporting Biden because Biden supports the Constitution and the sanctity of the vote. She encouraged people to vote, and “not let anyone subvert our democracy,” noting that Trump openly tried to suppress the vote during the presidential debate.
When asked what he would personally do it Trump didn’t peacefully vacate office, Pence said that he’s confident Trump will win reelection. Pence said, falsely, that Democrats have been trying the last three years trying to overturn the results of the last election. (FACT CHECK: Even if the Senate had convicted Trump, it wouldn’t have thrown republicans out of the White House. Pence would have been sworn in as president.) Pence claimed that the Mueller report found “no evidence of collusion, no evidence of conspiracy. Case closed.” (FACT CHECK: The Mueller report did not address collusion, as it said in the report, because that’s not a legal term. The report said it found evidence–as did a Senate Intelligence Committee report–but insufficient to prosecute. And the case is not closed: the report outlined ten incidents of Trump allegedly committing obstruction of justice that Trump may be prosecuted for when he leaves office.)
Pence claimed that Hillary Clinton said “under no circumstances should [Joe Biden] concede the election.” (FACT CHECK: Clinton was talking about conceding on Election Night. She stated that Democrats should file suit in states where election irregularities look like republicans tilted the outcome.) Pence said that mail in voting would cause “massive voter fraud.” (FACT CHECK: This is untrue, according to numerous sources.)
(UPDATE 10:35 p.m. ET) Harris: “Yes, Mr. Vice President, Joe Biden and I believe implicit bias does exist, contrary to what you may believe.”
(UPDATE 10:33 p.m. ET) Pence went beyond his time to bring up Harris’s record as DA of San Francisco and Attorney General of California, claiming that a disproportionate number of Black people were imprisoned by her, and that she did not enact any reforms. (FACT CHECK: As a district attorney in San Francisco, Harris set up the “Back on Track” to help convicts reintegrate into society. With Harris as California’s Attorney General, Harris established the first statewide agency with a police body cam policy in the nation and started police training on implicit bias and procedural justice.) Pence claimed that the proposal from North Carolina republican Tim Scott, the only Black republican guaranteed a seat in the next Congress, was a bi-partisan effort. (FACT CHECK: This is untrue. Democrats were not part of the team that crafted the Scott legislation. A team of republicans wrote it and gave it to Democrats to review.)
(UPDATE: 10:26 p.m. ET) Pence brought out the “some of my best friends (or in this case, family) are Jewish” to defend Trump’s support of white supremacists. Trump took two days to condemn the Proud Boys after the first presidential debate. Pence blamed the media for selectively editing Trump’s words that were said on live broadcasts.
(UPDATE: 10:24 p.m. ET) Harris noted that she was the only one on the stage to prosecute criminals. “I will not sit here and be lectured by the Vice President on what it means to enforce the laws of our country.” Harris recalled Trump’s unwillingness to denounce white supremacists and militia. Pence said, not true. It is.
(UPDATE: 10:21 p.m. ET) Pence said that he has faith in the justice system, and that he’s surprised that she doesn’t trust a grand jury; in fact, members of the grand jury have said they didn’t get all the facts. Pence then mentioned a woman whose shop in Minneapolis was burned in riots was in the audience. (That’s when a fly landed on his head and didn’t move.)
(UPDATE: 10:18 p.m. ET) Harris said that she doesn’t feel that justice was done in the Breonna Taylor homicide case, when no one was held responsible for her death. Harris also discussed the homicide of George Floyd, killed when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes. She said we should never condone violence, but people took to the streets to fight for justice. She said Biden would ban choke holds, have a national registry of those police officers who break the law, ban private prisons and expunge the records for people convicted of marijuana possession.
(UPDATE: 10:14 p.m. ET) Harris review how Lincoln didn’t fill a SCOTUS opening 27 days before the election in 1864. Pence pressed on packing the Supreme Court. Harris noted that of the 50 people Trump nominated to the Appeals Court were Black.
(UPDATE: 10:13 p.m. ET) Pence was asked how the administration would ensure how people with pre-existing conditions would have health coverage. Pence said that he is proudly pro-life, but claimed he didn’t know how Barrett would vote. (FACT CHECK: In the first presidential debate last week, Trump repeatedly pressed Biden when Biden said Barrett would overturn Roe v. Wade, hectoring, “How do you know that? How do you know that?” Iowa republican Senator Joni Ernst, in a debate last week, said, “I think the likelihood of Roe v. Wade being overturned is very minimal.”) He then went on a rant about court-packing.
(UPDATE: 10:10 p.m. ET) Pence didn’t answer a question about Amy Comey Barrett’s views, or if he would want his home state of Indiana to ban abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Harris noted that the American people want the SCOTUS nomination held for the person elected to the next term. Harris said that she would always support the right for a woman to choose. Harris also noted that Trump is in court to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. (FACT CHECK: The Trump Administration and 18 republican governors are suing to revoke all parts of the Affordable Care Act, including protections for pre-existing conditions. The suit is expected to hit the Supreme Court after Election Day.)
(UPDATE: 10:06 p.m. ET) Pence claimed that Solemani was on his way to Baghdad to “take out more Americans.” First, Solemani was already in Baghdad, and he was there on a diplomatic visit.
(UPDATE: 10:05 p.m. ET) Harris listed the times Trump has insulted military, POWs, WIAs and MIAs including failing to face Putin over bounties on our troops. Pence claimed, “President Trump not only respects but reveres those in the military.” Multiple sources do not support that view.
(UPDATE: 10:02 p.m. ET) Pence claimed that NATO allies are paying more due to Trump. That’s untrue: the NATO plan to increase domestic military spending to 2% of GDP by 2024 was put in place in 2014 under President Obama. Speaking of Katie Mueller, Pence said that if Trump was president, she would still be alive; that’s untrue, because Trump didn’t run for president in 2008 or 2012.
(UPDATE: 9:58 p.m. ET) Asked about America’s role in foreign relations, Harris said, “What we’ve seen with Donald Trump is that he’s betrayed our friends and embraced dictators around the world.” Harris brought up Russia, and how Trump took the word of Putin over our US intelligence community. Trump has also threatened to pull out of NATO. Trump also took a unilateral approach in pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear deal.
(UPDATE 9:54 p.m. ET) Harris says the Trump Administration has an unhealthy obsession with undoing everything Obama did. Harris said Trump eliminated an Obama pandemic task force; Pence mumbled, “That’s not true.” (FACT CHECK: It is true.)
(UPDATE 9:53 p.m. ET) Pence claimed that China did not allow American personnel into China until the middle of February. (FACT CHECK: Trump cut the CDC office in China by two-thirds since he took office, including the liaison between the CDC and the Chinese government, an epidemiologist meant to keep communications open for things like a pandemic.)
(UPDATE 9:51 p.m. ET) Pence said Harris was ranked by Newsweek as the most liberal Senator. (FACT CHECK: Harris is the third most liberal Senator according to GovTrack after Gillibrand (NY) and Merkley (OR). CNN notes that while Harris is liberal on many issues, she’s moderate on others. In 2019, GovTrack rated Harris as the most liberal Senator. Others have her listed farther down the line. )
(UPDATE 9:49 p.m. ET) Harris on trade with China: “You lost that trade war with China. You lost it.” Trump gave tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to farmers during his trade war. Harris said that almost half of Americans are worried about paying rent. Pence claimed that the Paris climate accord killed jobs; during the Obama Administration, more than 12 million jobs were created, the fourth most of any post-WWII president. Pence said that “in the first three years of the Trump Administration,” jobs returned. (FACT CHECK: Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Trump’s average job growth was 188,700 per month; Obama’s was 212.57 during his last 44 months in office (the similar length to the Trump’s time in office). Data from BLS.)
(UPDATE 9:46 p.m. ET) Harris claimed Trump said, “Science doesn’t know.) That’s true. Pence said that the Trump-Pence administration would follow the science.
(UPDATE 9:40 p.m. ET) Pence says Biden has pledged to abolish fracking. This is untrue, as Biden said during his Town Hall in Moosic, PA. There are no more hurricanes than there were 100 years ago. (FACT CHECK: This is a lie. We’ve had more than 25 named storms this year, only the second time in two decades they’ve had to go to Greek letters to name storms.) Pence claimed that our trade deficit is lower. (FACT CHECK: August marked the highest monthly trade deficit in 16 years.)
(UPDATE 9:39 p.m. ET) Pence said Trump has a plan for health care. (FACT CHECK: Trump has said on a number of occasions that he would introduce a health care plan “in two weeks.” He has yet to present any health insurance policy. ) Pence claimed that Biden said he would abolish fossil fuels. (Biden said he would have a net zero emissions by 2050.)
(UPDATE 9:36 p.m. ET) Pence says that the Trump Tax Bill lowered tax bills by $2,000 for average families. That’s not true.
(UPDATE 9:34 p.m. ET) Pence said that the economy saved 50 million jobs through the Paycheck Protection Program, however Trump announced that he would not continue any coronavirus relief until after the election. (FACT CHECK: Since Trump took office, the US has lost a net 3.7 million jobs; under Obama, the US gained 11.5 million jobs. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Trump’s average job growth was 188,700 per month; Obama’s was 212.57 during his last 44 months in office (the similar length to the Trump’s time in office). Data from BLS.)
(UPDATE 9:32 p.m. ET) Harris said Biden looks at wealth as the wealth of all people, whereas Trump looks at the riches of the wealthy. Harris said Biden would revoke the Trump Tax Bill that gave the majority of benefits to the top 2%. Biden would also ensure community colleges and state colleges would have no tuition if families make less than $140,000.
(UPDATE 9:30 p.m. ET) Pence said that Trump has paid payroll taxes and property taxes. That’s not the same as federal income taxes. Pence said Trump turned the economy around. (FACT CHECK: Trump’s best year in office saw 3.0% GDP growth; Obama’s was 3.1%. Obama also inherited an shrinking economy; Trump inherited an economy growing at a 1.6% rate. Trump’s best quarter, at 3.8%, would’ve been Obama’s fourth best quarter.
(UPDATE 9:28 p.m. ET) Harris said the president should be transparent with his health records and taxes. Harris said the American people have a right to know “what’s influencing the president’s decisions.” Biden has released his taxes and health records, but Trump has not.
(UPDATE 9:26 p.m. ET) Pence was asked if it was wrong for the president’s physicians hiding information on Trump’s health. Pence deflected the question to the his thanks for the thoughts and prayers. He did not answer the question about the lies and omissions told by Trump’s doctors.
(UPDATE 9:24 p.m. ET) Pence claims that Harris undermined the public’s faith in a vaccine. Harris, in fact, said that she wouldn’t believe Trump’s claims about a vaccine. Pence said they would have a vaccine. (FACT CHECK: Not true.) Pence claimed that Obama left the national stockpile empty. (FACT CHECK: Obama did not leave the cupboard bare. And Trump has been president since January 2017, so he had plenty of time to refill the stockpile.)
Pence did not answer the question about having a conversation with Trump about potentially taking over duties of the president if Trump becomes incapacitated.
(UPDATE 9:19 p.m. ET) Harris: “You respect the American people when you tell them the truth–”
Pence: “Which we’ve always done.”
(FACT CHECK: That’s a lie. Washington Post estimates Trump has lied to the American people more than 20,000 times as of July. )
(UPDATE 9:15 p.m. ET) Pence claimed that Trump took steps to shut down the American economy. This is a lie. Trump has done nothing to shut down the economy; state governors did. Trump fought efforts to take such actions. Pence also claimed that early speculation was that 200,000 might die; that’s untrue. First estimates were that 2 million would die if no points of mitigation were taken. Again, Trump has not taken action.
(UPDATE 9:13 p.m. ET) Pence claimed that “from the very first day, President Trump put the health of the American people first.” This is untrue: Trump has not, even today, put a single domestic policy in place to check the spread of the coronavirus. Pence said that under Trump, the administration has seen enough PPE. (FACT CHECK: Hospitals and front line personnel still face a critical shortage of PPE.) Pence said that there will be millions of doses of vaccine by the end of the year. (FACT CHECK: Despite Trump claims, there is no cure for the coronavirus, and experts say a vaccine will not be available for the public until April 2021.)
(UPDATE 9:10 p.m. ET) Harris calls the pandemic response the “greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country.” Harris noted that the Trump-Pence was administration was notified of the dangers of the virus on January 28, including the airborne nature of the virus. Harris says the Trump administration “has forfeited their right to reelection” as a result of their response to this pandemic.
(UPDATE 8:50 p.m. ET) Debate organizers are advising audience members that masks are mandatory and if they should remove their mask during the debate, they will be escorted out of the venue.
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