Virus hangs over deputies' clash

The plexiglass barriers separating the candidates in the US vice-presidential debate on Wednesday provided a stark reminder of COVID-19's presence in the 2020 campaign.

The pandemic, which has devastated the US economy and claimed at least 211,700 lives as of Thursday morning, was at the forefront of a range of topics debated for 90 minutes by Vice-President Mike Pence and US Senator Kamala Harris of California at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

"The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country," Harris said. "And frankly, this administration has forfeited their right to reelection based on this."

Harris, 55, the first black woman to serve on a major-party presidential ticket in the United States, said that on Jan 28 the vice-president and US President Donald Trump were informed about the "lethality" of the disease and "they didn't tell you".

"Now you're standing in a food line because of the ineptitude of an administration that didn't tell the truth," she said.

Pence, 61, who also is in charge of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, called the administration's effort the "greatest national mobilization since World War II" that saved hundreds of thousands of US lives.

"We believe we will have tens of millions of doses of vaccine by the end of the year," he said.

Of the vaccine, Harris said that "if the doctors tell us we should take it, I'd be the first in line". But she said, "if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I'm not taking it".

Moderator Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today, asked about the role of the vice-president, considering the age of Trump, 74, and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, 77. Both debaters dodged the question.

The debate was mostly civil, a stark contrast with the chaotic, personal attacks-laden debate between Trump and Biden several days ago.

But Pence repeatedly interrupted Harris and the moderator, prompting Harris to plead, albeit with a smile:"Mr Vice-President, I'm speaking".

One of the most intense clashes was about racial justice after nationwide protests over police brutality against African Americans.

Pence said Biden and Harris had a presumption that the US is systemically racist, and Biden "believes that law enforcement has an implicit bias against minorities".

"It's a great insult to the men and women who serve in law enforcement. And I want everyone to know who puts on the uniform of law enforcement every day, President Trump and I stand with you."

Harris, who said she was a part of those peaceful protests, snapped back: "I will not sit here and be lectured by the vice-president on what it means to enforce the laws of our country.

"I'm the only one on this stage who has personally prosecuted everything from child sexual assault to homicide," she said.

Relationship with China

Asked how they would describe "our fundamental relationship with China, are we competitors, adversaries, enemies?" Pence continued to blame China for the coronavirus, and said the administration had been "standing up to China that had been taking advantage of America for decades".

Harris said the Trump administration's perspective and approach to China has resulted in the "loss of American lives, American jobs and America's standing" in the world.

"What ended up happening is because of a so-called trade war with China, America lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs, farmers have experienced bankruptcy because of it," she said, adding the consumers are paying thousands of dollars more for goods, "because of that failed war".

Harris also said there was a "weird obsession" that Trump has had with getting rid of whatever accomplishment that was achieved by the previous administration.

"There was a team of disease experts that President (Barack)Obama and Vice-President Biden dispatched to China to monitor what is now predictable and what might happen. They pulled them out. We now are looking at 210,000 Americans who have lost their lives."

Vice-presidential debates are usually an afterthought for the main event, but this year's seemed more vital in a nation coping with the consequences of the pandemic.

"Vice-presidential debates don't usually affect the broader race, but this is an unusual election cycle, so this debate is being closely watched,"Cal Jillson, a political scientist and historian at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, said before the contest.

"This particular debate is more important than most because the first presidential debate was so uninformative."