Washington bureau chief for USA Today Susan Page moderated the first and only vice-presidential debate ahead of the general election and she sought to keep Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) in line.
Page was persistent trying to keep the two within their time limits during Wednesday night’s debate, as both Pence and Harris pressed to get more time to respond to one another’s claims.
“I’m sorry Mr. Vice President but you’ve had more time than she’s had so far,” Page said before Pence went on to speak.
Page later put her foot down, as she said in a louder voice, “I did not create the rules for tonight. Your campaign’s agreed to the rules for tonight’s debate with the Commission on Presidential Debates. I’m here to enforce them.”
The moderator pointed out that making the debate flow “involves moving from one topic to another, giving roughly equal time to both of you which is what I’m trying very hard to do.”
Watch the video below:
Susan Page stops VP Pence as he goes past time limit: "I did not create the rules for tonight… I'm here to enforce them."#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/FL5qAhC0Zj
— The Hill (@thehill) October 8, 2020
Both Harris and Pence, however, were able to get more words in than the first presidential debate where President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden repeatedly clashed.
Trump even took aim at the moderator of that debate, Fox News’ Chris Wallace, saying, “I guess I’m debating you, not him.”
Wallace said following the chaotic debate that he “never dreamt that it would go off the tracks the way it did.”