The journalist moderating Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate between Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Vice President Mike Pence opened the debate with a loaded question about the novel coronavirus, framing the virus as out of control at the hands of the Trump administration.
“The coronavirus is not under control,” moderator Susan Page, USA TODAY’s Washington bureau chief, emphatically stated before reading off statistics of positive cases and ignoring plummeting hospitalization numbers.
Teeing up Harris, Page then asked the California senator what a Biden administration would do differently to combat the virus.
Harris, who did not lay out the restrictions a Biden administration would implement in her allotted two-minutes, slammed the Trump administration for allegedly keeping information from the American people and being slow to the draw when it came to their response.
Page, again, went after the Trump administration, asking Mr. Pence how he can “expect” the American people to follow safety regulations she accused the White House of not following, referencing the Rose Garden ceremony for Supreme Court justice nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, which was notably held outdoors.
WATCH (relevant comments begin at the 1:03:00 mark):
The loaded first question is reminiscent of the first 2020 presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, which was moderated by Fox News’ Chris Wallace. Mr. Wallace was lambasted for his biased and disastrous moderating, and criticized for his repeated scolding of the president and jumping in to seemingly assist Biden.
As noted by The Daily Wire, even Wallace’s own colleague, “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade, took an apparent shot at the disastrous showing from Wallace.
“Why is [Joe Biden] allowed to interrupt? [Donald Trump] is not,” Kilmeade asked via Twitter.
Why is @JoeBiden allowed to interrupt? @realDonaldTrump is not
— Brian Kilmeade (@kilmeade) September 30, 2020
Related: Chris Wallace Faces Intense Backlash, Including From Colleagues, Over Bias During Debate