WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff Marc Short said Tuesday that Pence is requesting no plexiglass divider be installed on his side of the stage during Wednesday night's debate, the Washington Post reported.
Pence's team are citing the medical necessity of the shield saying that other safety measures such as the 12-foot distance between Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris, along with their daily testing routine, should suffice.
According to a Monday announcement by the Commission on Presidential Debates, Sen. Harris and Mike Pence will debate with a plexiglass shield between them to guard against coronavirus transmission.
The Biden-Harris campaign requested a plexiglass shield for Wednesday's vice presidential debate, and the Commission on Presidential Debates agreed to it. That’s according to a campaign aide with knowledge of the request who was not authorized to discuss it publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
It will be the first debate since President Donald Trump was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
The debate in Salt Lake City is the first and only meeting of the two vice presidential candidates.
It’s not the first time plexiglass will be used in a debate as a virus precaution. Democrat Jaime Harrison used a plexiglass partition during his Saturday debate against Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham in South Carolina.
