By Justin Buckner
The much-anticipated vice presidential debate was one in which the American people wanted civility and truth after a disastrous presidential debate. Vice President Mike Pence brought both of those things and was a standout last week by being composed, presidential, and respectful. After what some call “the worst presidential debate ever,” Vice President Pence represented the Republican Party in a way that would turn undecided voters to his side.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), on the other hand, was deceiving the American people for the majority of the debate.
Deception #1: Sen. Harris refused to answer the simple question on whether or not she and Joe Biden would pack the Supreme Court, changing the number of Justices (which has remained 9 for over 150 years). She went on to claim President Lincoln did not nominate a Supreme Court justice due to the upcoming election, which was not the reason for delaying his nominee. President Lincoln did not nominate a Supreme Court Justice because Congress was not in session, once they returned to session, he sent his nominee.
Deception #2: Sen. Harris claimed Joe Biden would not raise taxes for anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year, however Biden said he would eliminate all of President Trump’s tax cuts, the same tax cuts that greatly reduced taxes for the middle class.
Deception #3: On the debate stage, Sen. Harris claimed their administration would not ban fracking, something she and Biden have taken pride in claiming they would ban.
Deception #4: Sen. Harris claimed President Trump has not condemned white supremacy during the presidential debate when he has done so countless times. During the debate, Trump told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.” However, the Proud Boys are a multiracial organization that stands for traditional conservative/American values, not white supremacy.
Deception #5: Sen. Harris claimed the work she did as California’s Attorney General is the model of what our nation needs to do and is proud of the job she did. When she was California’s Attorney General, she put nearly 2,000 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about smoking marijuana herself while on a popular radio show. Harris blocked evidence that would have freed an innocent man from death row until the courts forced her to do so. She kept people in prison beyond their sentences to use them for cheap labor for the state of California. She put 19 times more black Americans in prison for minor offenses than whites and Hispanics… with her harsh treatment towards black Americans, no wonder she has referred to herself as “the first Indian Senator.” There is no excuse for these acts, but somehow she is still proud of it.
Deception #6: Sen. Harris claimed President Trump called our service members “losers,” which was published by a false Atlantic story. All the people who were with the President, including John Bolton, a man who is very outspoken about his dislike for Trump, confirmed it was a lie.
Deception #7: Sen. Harris claimed the Trump Administration is to blame for the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump took the issue seriously and banned travel from China on January 31 in an attempt to prevent the virus from coming to America. When doing so, Democrat leaders called him “xenophobic” and House Speaker Pelosi even went to San Francisco’s Chinatown to show that it “was safe” to go to crowded areas. In comparison to H1N1, Ron Klain, former Ebola Response Coordinator in the Obama administration, said not having one of the greatest mass casualties was pure luck, “we did everything wrong.” 13,000-18,000 people died, 80 percent of them were under the age of 65. As Vice President Pence pointed out, “We actually do know what failure looks like in a pandemic: It was 2009, the swine flu arrived in the United States. … When Joe Biden was vice president of the United States, not 7.5 million people contracted the swine flu, 60 million Americans contracted the swine flu.” If these two viruses had nearly the same fatality rate, using COVID-19’s 7.8 million cases with 215,000 deaths, we would have seen over a million swine flu deaths of Americans in the prime of their lives.
With Vice President Mike Pence holding strong and Sen. Kamala Harris struggling to keep up, I believe the Republican Party had a much needed win last Wednesday night. As we move closer to Election Day, these debates will be the deciding factor in who will be sitting in the Oval Office through 2024. With the cancellation of the second presidential debate, this may be the last time we see these rival campaigns face off. The Trump Campaign needs to get him back in the ring with Joe Biden, if another debate happens, President Trump will come out on top.
The vice presidential debate put on display the major contrasts between the two campaigns. Vice President Pence reinforced the Trump Administration’s successes, defended himself and President Trump from Sen. Harris’ deceptions, and spoke honestly throughout the debate. Sen. Harris, on the other hand, spent the night dodging questions, lying to the public, and acting petty towards the vice president. Pence handled it with grace and precision. He just may have saved the 2020 election, and set himself up for a possible presidential run in 2024.
Justin Buckner is a junior at Chapman University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and Documentary with a minor in Political Science. He is serving as the president of the Chapman Republican’s Club during the 2020-2021 academic year. This opinion piece is part of a running column written by Buckner.
Amazing article!!