After Resistance, Mike Pence Accepts Use of Plexiglass Barriers at Debate

The Biden campaign responded that eliminating dividers would risk the health of those in the debate hall.

“Senator Harris will be at the debate, respecting the protections that the Cleveland Clinic has put in place to promote safety for all concerned,” Sabrina Singh, a Harris spokeswoman, said. “If the Trump administration’s war on masks has now become a war on safety shields, that tells you everything you need to know about why their Covid response is a failure.”

Mr. Pence has tested negative for the virus several times in recent days, according to his aides, though the vice president had interacted frequently with numerous White House advisers who have since tested positive.

Mr. Short, the vice president’s chief of staff, also claimed that an epidemiologist at the University of Utah, which is hosting the debate, “told us that there’s no scientific reason for the plexiglass.” In fact, the Cleveland Clinic is overseeing health protocols at the debate.

Ground rules for debates are often the subject of delicate negotiations between the campaigns and the debate commission, and it is not unusual for issues to flare up in the hours before the event.

Mr. Pence’s attempted dismissal of a safety measure, however, was notable in light of the myriad health concerns around staging an indoor event when the president and a significant number of his senior advisers have contracted the virus, along with several senators and a top military leader.

One aide to Mr. Pence had expressed disdain earlier this week about the use of the barriers, suggesting they could be used to make a candidate look weak. “If Senator Harris wants to use a fortress around herself, have at it,” the aide, Katie Miller, said.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/business/media/pence-harris-plexiglass-debate.html