VP candidates avoid answering questions during debate, focus next-day efforts on Supreme Court justices, cases
Vice President Mike Pence got his one opportunity to face off against the Democrat’s vice presidential nominee Wednesday night, and both sides want to attack the other for not answering questions.
“You saw Kamala refuse to answer after being asked multiple times, ‘Would you pack the Supreme Court of the United States?’” said Erin Perrine, the Trump campaign director of press communications.
When pressed about packing the U.S. Supreme Court – meaning adding justices to the Supreme Court – Sen. Kamala Harris didn’t answer, instead talking about how the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s seat shouldn’t be filled yet.
Pence dodged questions on coronavirus protections and a peaceful transfer of power, among others.
On Thursday both sides focused on the answers around the court, with Democrats again attacking upcoming arguments that could overturn the Affordable Care Act.
“The fact is that President Trump supports a lawsuit to overturn the Affordable Care Act completely,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisconsin. “That includes the protections for people with pre-existing health conditions.”
Perrine said Trump is committed to protecting people with pre-existing conditions, but she blamed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for why Trump hasn’t pushed for that protection if the court overturns the ACA.
“That’s a conversation we have to have with the Congress about what we need to do to make sure that we are enshrining the protections for pre-existing conditions into law,” she said. “And listen, President Trump has been very clear. We want to protect those with pre-existing conditions.”
Protections for coverage of pre-existing conditions is already enshrined in law as part of the ACA, though that’s what the court could overturn.
In Wisconsin the state Assembly passed a bill that would continue protections if need be, but the state Senate never passed it, so it never became law.
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