(AP Photo/Morry Gash, Pool)SALT LAKE CITY – There were three participants in the vice presidential debate: Republican Mike Pence, Democrat Kamala Harris and the plexiglass between them.
Sen. Harris' team requested plexiglass be used after President Donald Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after his first presidential debate against Democrat Joe Biden last week in Cleveland.
Other reminders that these are not normal times for a vice presidential debate: 20 chairs for guests were spaced roughly 6 feet (1.8 meters) apart in the debate hall, a performing arts center on the University of Utah campus.
Pence’s guests in the debate hall were meant to convey a “law and order” message that has been a centerpiece of the Trump campaign.
Before the debate, dozens of Trump and Pence supporters stood on the street outside waving flags and chanting, some holding anti-abortion signs.