VP debate 2020: Kamala Harris and Mike Pence to go head to head – live updates

9.25pm EDT 21:25

Mike Pence had no real explanation for the White House’s choice to hold an event at the Rose Garden, which contradicted local rules about gatherings in Washington DC as well as his own task force’s guidelines.

The vice president’s tactic so far is to hear a question and carry on answering an entirely different one.

Asked directly about the Rose Garden gathering, Pence praised the American people’s resilience and sacrifices. “The work of the president of the United State goes on,” Pence said.

9.19pm EDT 21:19

“Mr Vice President, I’m speaking. I’m speaking,” Harris asserted when Pence tries to interrupt her.

Although the night is decidedly less chaotic and cacophonic than the first presidential debate – during which Trump consistently interrupted and talked over his opponent – there are some tense dynamics tonight.

“The American people have had to sacrifice far too much because of the incompetence of this administration,” Harris shot at the vice president, who attempted to defend the administration’s record on coronavirus.

Updated at 9.24pm EDT

9.16pm EDT 21:16

Pence claims Biden plagiarized the Trump administration’s Covid-19 response.

The vice president also touted travel restrictions that epidemiologists have said were implemented too late – after the virus was already circulating within the US – to be especially effective.

9.13pm EDT 21:13

Harris was asked about the Biden administration’s plan for the pandemic – but she spent the majority of her two minutes attacking the Trump administration’s response.

With the president currently recovering from a coronavirus infection – Pence will have to explain how he, as head of the task force, was unable to foresee or help prevent even an outbreak within the White House.

9.10pm EDT 21:10

First volley: Harris attacks Pence over coronavirus response

“The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country,” Harris said, citing the 210,000 Americans who have died of Covid-19.

Harris has been expected to hit Pence on the administration’s pandemic response – he is, after all, the head of the White House coronavirus task force.

Updated at 9.19pm EDT

9.07pm EDT 21:07

The University of Utah, which is hosting the debate tonight, has put out bingo cards, for those who want to play along at home.

“Dr Anthony Fauci”, “systemic racism”, and “masks” are among the terms on there. Elsewhere, people are surely developing their own, less wholesome drinking games …

Updated at 9.10pm EDT

9.06pm EDT 21:06

Vice presidential candidates take the stage

The candidates have taken their positions – 12 feet apart from each other to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission.

9.00pm EDT 21:00

Susan Page, who is moderating today’s debate, has asked the audience to remain quiet, and refrain from applauding any time other than the beginning and end of the event.

Page is the Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today. She’s the first print journalist to moderate a televised presidential or vice presidential debate since 1976.

Updated at 9.07pm EDT

8.49pm EDT 20:49

How Harris and Pence have prepped

Adam Gabbatt

Pete Buttigieg, the 38-year-old former mayor who ran against Harris and Biden for president before Biden emerged as the candidate, has taken on the role of Pence in a series of mock debates. Buttigieg, like Pence, is from Indiana, although the two are eons apart politically and personally.

Harris, a former prosecutor, won rave reviews for her performance in an early Democratic debate, when she criticized Biden for his record on race.

Axios reported that Harris had similarly planned to go on the attack on Wednesday, tying Pence to Trump and rebuking the pair over their coronavirus response, healthcare and beyond. The California senator had apparently “planned a handful of anti-Trump zingers”, but given the president’s ill-health, she will tone it down.

Pam Bondi, a former Florida attorney general, has been helping Pence with his debate prep, filling in for Harris. Some of Pence’s preparation has involved developing ways to attack Harris “without opening himself up to criticism that he is acting in a disrespectful or sexist way”, according to NBC News.

8.42pm EDT 20:42

Pence has invited Ann Dorn, the widow of retired police captain David Dorn, to the debate

Ann Dorn, widow of slain police officer David Dorn spoke during the largely virtual 2020 Republican National Convention. Photograph: Republican National Convention/Reuters

Ann Dorn spoke during the Republican National Convention about her late husband, who died amid protests against police brutality in St Louis. She said he died while trying to protect a friend’s shop from looters, and during the RNC told voters to support Trump because he understands that “violence and destruction are not legitimate forms of protest … They do not safeguard Black lives. They only destroy them.”

But the late Dorn’s daughters said they objected to their father’s death being politicized. David Dorn and his wife disagreed on politics, and “what I want people to know is that my father would not have wanted his name, his image, his likeness to be used and politicized to continue to support the efforts of Trump and his administration, especially his law-and-order agenda”, daughter Lisa Dorn told CNN.

Updated at 8.48pm EDT

8.38pm EDT 20:38

What’s the format?

The debate will be divided into nine 10-minute segments – and last a total of 90 minutes.

After a chaotic first presidential debate, during which Donald Trump repeatedly interrupted Joe Biden and moderator Chris Wallace, we’re expecting a more civil performance by the vice presidential candidates tonight.

8.20pm EDT 20:20

Pence and Harris set to debate for first – and only – time

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of tonight’s vice presidential debate.

Mike Pence and Kamala Harris are scheduled to take the debate stage at 9pm ET in Salt Lake City, for their first and only face-off of this election cycle.

The coronavirus pandemic, which has already affected the staging and format of the debate, will undoubtedly be a major topic of discussion tonight. The two campaigns have already argued over whether the candidates should be separated by plexiglass barriers after Pence was exposed to the virus amid an outbreak at the White House. (The dinky barriers that were, eventually, put up are not useful, disease experts say, as the virus could be transmitted through the air).

As the president continues to recover from a Covid-19 infection, Pence – the head of the White House coronavirus task force – will have to answer for why the administration has failed to prevent an outbreak within the White House, even as the national coronavirus death toll ticks past 210,000.

Meanwhile, Harris will have an easier job. As a senator and former prosecutor, Harris has established herself as a sharp questioner – and she’ll have to attack the administration’s failures without coming off as attacking the sick president.

Susan Page, the Washington bureau chief for USA Today, will moderate the debate.

Updated at 8.43pm EDT