Donald Trump’s health is likely to take centre stage at Wednesday’s vice-presidential debate, after the U.S. president and several of his inner circle tested positive for coronavirus.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, the Democrats’ nominee, will face off in Salt Lake City, Utah, less than a month before the November 3 election.
Trump’s handling of the pandemic is also expected to be in focus.
Since being discharged from hospital on Monday, the Republican president has returned to downplaying the health risks of the virus, while the death toll in the U.S. has surpassed 211,500.
Pence, who has chaired the White House coronavirus task force, will likely face questions about the government’s response, which has been sharply criticized by Democrats.
The first and only debate between the prospective deputies, which usually plays second fiddle to the three presidential debates, also takes on more significance this election cycle due to the age of the presidential contenders.
Trump is 74 and was hospitalized over the weekend, while Democratic rival Joe Biden is 77 and would be the oldest U.S. president ever, heightening the possibility that Pence, 61, or Harris, 55, may have to step in as president.
The debate is an opportunity for both to demonstrate to voters that they would be ready to assume the presidency if needed.
Pence and Harris are set to be divided by plexiglass and placed more than three metres apart on the debate stage to prevent any potential coronavirus spread, a visual reminder of how the pandemic is shaping the race.
Both have tested negative for the virus in recent days.
The 90-minute debate will be moderated by Susan Page, USA Today’s Washington bureau chief.
It is expected to be less raucous than Trump and Biden’s first debate last week, which was marked by frequent interruptions and insult slinging.
Pence, a former governor, is seen as a more measured communicator than Trump.
Harris, a California senator and former prosecutor, has been known for sharp interrogations of Trump appointees and nominees in Senate hearings.
Harris will make history as the first black woman to take part in a vice presidential debate.
The second presidential debate, scheduled for Oct. 15, has been called into question in light of Trump’s coronavirus diagnosis, though the president has signalled he plans to participate.
Trump’s illness came at a crucial point in his re-election campaign, with him trailing Biden in the polls and voting already under way.
Even as the president’s physician on Wednesday said he had been symptom-free for 24 hours, a number of White House staff, campaign aides and Republican lawmakers have also tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days.