Highlights of the Harris-Pence debate and an uninvited guest

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The coronavirus invaded the White House. More than 200,000 Americans have died from the virus. Many questions about the health of US President Donald Trump remain unanswered after he became infected.

Against this background, US Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris met in Salt Lake City - behind Plexiglas - for the first and only vice presidential debate.

Politico presents key points from the debate.

"I beg you": those present at the debate were constantly urged to wear masks

Before the debate began, those present were warned to wear masks constantly during the debate. Those who refused were warned that they would be asked to leave.

"Please do not take off your masks," the debate organizers urged.

The warning came after reports emerged that the family of US President Donald Trump had refused to wear masks at the first presidential debate.

Harris called Covid-19 "the biggest failure" of the US administration

The Democratic senator attacked Trump at the beginning of the debate. She described the government's actions in the fight against the coronavirus as "the biggest failure of the presidential administration in the history of our country."

Harris pointed to the human and economic losses from the pandemic. More than 210,000 Americans have died, more than 7 million have been infected, one in five companies have closed and more than 30 million have lost their jobs in the past few months, she said.

Kamala Harris accused the Trump administration of covering up the seriousness of the virus back in January.

On January 28, the vice president and president were briefed on the nature of the pandemic. They knew and covered it. The president said it was a scam. They downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic, she continued her attack.

Pence: Biden's plan for a "little like plagiarism" pandemic

The vice president did not hesitate to attack Biden, saying his plan to fight the coronavirus "looks a bit like plagiarism". He pointed out that the plan covers things that have been undertaken by the government - testing and developing a vaccine.

Harris spoke directly to the audience and asked them if they thought the Trump administration's response was sufficient, and cut off Pence, who tried to interrupt her, the first shootout between the two. " Mr. Vice President, I'm talking ," she replied.

The senator turned to Pence again to stop interrupting

There were no serious verbal skirmishes and chaos in the vice-presidential debate as in the first presidential debate. But when Pence tried to interrupt Harris when she spoke about Biden's tax plan, the senator made it clear that she would end her sentence without interruption: "If you don't mind, let me finish."

Harris wanted to say that Biden would not raise taxes on those who make less than $ 400,000, nor would he ban fracking. When the moderator tried to interrupt her, she said, "You're interrupting me, I'd like to finish."

Pence defends the Rose Garden event at the White House related to the spread of coronavirus in the Trump administration

The September 26 event, when Trump nominated Amy Barrett for a Supreme Court judge, took place from outside, which is supported by scientists, Pence said, adding that much speculation has emerged.

"President Trump and I trust the American people to make the best choices for their health. Joe Biden and Harris are constantly talking about orders, not just orders for the coronavirus, but the government to take over health care," he said.

Harris on trade war with China: "You lost the trade war"

The senator attacked Trump's economic policies. According to her, the head of state has lost the trade war with China, which Pence described as a victory.

Harris noted that 300,000 jobs had been lost in production and farmers had gone bankrupt due to the trade war. The president's actions have led to a "recession in production." She cites data showing that at the end of Trump's first term, so many jobs were lost that no other head of state had such a negative record.

"Nearly half of American tenants are worried about being able to pay their rent at the end of the month. That's where the US economy is right now. And that's because of this administration's disastrous and failed leadership," Harris said again.

Pence has criticized Biden for being controlled by China in recent decades.

"Lost trade war with China? Joe Biden never fights," he said.

The two candidates also clashed over US actions in the Middle East, Trump's comments on the US military and protests against racism in the country. On the issue of a peaceful transition, Pence avoided it and announced that they believed they would be re-elected for another four years.

The star of the debate turned out to be an uninvited guest - a fly.

The uninvited guest caught attention at one point in the debate - a fly landed on Pence's hair for about two minutes. They were discussing racism and police arbitrariness when the fly landed on Pence's head, which he didn't even understand.

The social network reacted with jokes. Even Vice President Biden joked with a fly swatter. Some on social media joked if anyone could test for a fly coronavirus.