Pence Team Refuses Plexiglass Barrier At VP Debate

The Washington Post reports:

Vice President Pence is requesting that no plexiglass dividers be placed on his side of the stage at Wednesday night’s vice-presidential debate, after an announcement Monday by the Commission on Presidential Debates that dividers had been agreed to as a safety measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Marc Short, the vice president’s chief of staff, said the vice president’s team does not view plexiglass dividers as medically necessary, given other safety measures at the debate, including a 12-foot distance between Pence and Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) and daily testing of both candidates.

The commission and the Biden campaign both said Tuesday they understood that the Pence team was in agreement with the notion of plexiglass barriers. But the Pence team suggested they did not want any such dividers around the vice president, regardless of what Harris does.

BREAKING—Now VP Pence’s team is breaking earlier agreement and now *refusing* even a transparent plexiglass divider for the VP debate!

Earlier Monday, Commission on Presidential Debates said dividers had been agreed to as a safety measure for #COVID19. https://t.co/IXP6nywECW

— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) October 6, 2020