Republican VP Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris squared off on Wednesday evening (Oct 7) in Salt Lake City, Utah, ahead of the Nov 3 presidential election.
Here are some of key quotes from the debate, which was moderated by USA Today journalist Susan Page:
THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
Harris: "On January 28, the VP and the president were informed concerning the nature of this pandemic. They were informed that it's lethal. In consequence that it's airborne that it will affect young people, and that it would be contracted, because it's airborne. And they knew what was happening and they didn't tell you."
Asked concerning the Covid-19 death toll, Pence: "I want the American people to know that from the very first day President Donald Trump has put the health of America first."
Pence: "The reality is when you look at the Biden plan it reads an awful lot like what President Trump and I and our task force have been doing every step of the way.... it looks a little bit like plagiarism."
Harris: "The American people have had to sacrifice far too much because of the incompetence of this administration."
VACCINE
Harris on vaccine: "If the public health professionals, if Dr (Anthony) Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it absolutely, but if Donald Trump tells us to take it, I'm not taking it."
Pence: "The fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccineif the vaccine emerges during the Trump administrationI think is unconscionable ... stop playing politics with people's lives."