VP Debate 2020: Pence compares swine flu with Covid-19, Internet slams him, says 'your orange boss failed'
California Sen Kamala Harris and vice-president Mike Pence are facing-off at the first and only 2020 Vice Presidential debate, which is being conducted at the University of Utah in Salt City Lake. With USA Today's Susan Page moderating the event, each candidate is given two minutes to discuss a certain topic.
So far, Harris and Pence have indulged in an intense discussion surrounding President Donald Trump vs Democratic candidate Joe Biden administration, the surging deaths in the US due to the novel coronavirus, the economy, tax policies and unemployment. When asked about the government's response to the outbreak of the pandemic, both Harris and Pence blamed the opposition for their inefficiency to curb the issue and take effective measures. While Harris assured that Biden, if brought to power, would work towards introducing a vaccine for the deadly virus and come up with a national strategy, Pence defended Trump for suspending travel from China, which according to him has saved millions of lives.
However, as the discussion progressed, Pence decided to compare Covid-19 to the swine flu outbreak under the Barack Obama-Biden administration, which has earned him a lot of criticism. Soon people took to Twitter to remind Pence about the number of deaths caused by swine flu and slammed him for comparing it with the pandemic which has cost over 210,000 lives in the US since the beginning of 2020.
One Tweeted, "Oh, did over 210,000 people die from swine flu? If the answer is yes, please continue If the answer is no, move on. Trust me. This doesn’t make you guys look any better." Another added, "Yes, 60.8M cases of swine flu in 2009, just over 12k deaths. COVID, 7M cases, 211k+ deaths. Shut up Pence." Another noted, "So Mike Pence wants to bring up Swine Flu that killed 12,000 when he's got 200,000+ dead on his watch? If Swine flu was as lethal, Obama would have told the truth. That's step 1 of outbreaks. Your orange boss failed STEP 1 and you want 4 more years? NOPE!". One asked, "Pence talking about how if the Swine Flu was as lethal as COVID, it would’ve killed almost 2 million people definitely ranks at the top of the list of topics that just don’t make sense. Not sure what point he was trying to make to be honest."
Yes, 60.8M cases of swine flu in 2009, just over 12k deaths. COVID, 7M cases, 211k+ deaths. Shut up Pence.
— Allison Brown (@almanno77) October 8, 2020
Oh, did over 210,000 people die from swine flu?
— Triple J (@DonaldD48774622) October 8, 2020
If the answer is yes, please continue
If the answer is no, move on. Trust me. This doesn’t make you guys look any better
So Mike Pence wants to bring up Swine Flu that killed 12,000 when he's got 200,000+ dead on his watch?
— shironbell (@shironbell) October 8, 2020
If Swine flu was as lethal, Obama would have told the truth. That's step 1 of outbreaks. Your orange boss failed STEP 1 and you want 4 more years? NOPE! #Debates2020
Pence talking about how if the Swine Flu was as lethal as COVID, it would’ve killed almost 2 million people definitely ranks at the top of the list of topics that just don’t make sense. Not sure what point he was trying to make to be honest.
— Ashar Khan (@ashar_khan22) October 8, 2020