Harris’ statement, which came during the only vice presidential debate of the 2020 election cycle, underscores the central role that Covid-19 vaccine development has played on the 2020 campaign trail.
“If public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I’ll be the first in line to take it, absolutely,” she said. “But if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it, I’m not taking it.”
Harris and the Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, have criticized Trump for months for rhetoric that undermines government scientists and, they argue, has damaged public trust in an eventual vaccine. Biden has backed Harris’ stance on the Trump administration’s vaccine development process, outlining several transparency thresholds that the campaign would require before endorsing use of a Covid-19 vaccine.
For months, President Trump has pledged an imminent vaccine approval, openly acknowledging he’s seeking one by Election Day on Nov. 3.
In response, Pence stopped short of echoing the Trump campaign’s prior accusation that Harris’ stance makes her an “anti-vaxxer,” but he called her stance “unconscionable.”