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VP Debate 2020: Susan Page slammed as worse than Chris Wallace as she let Pence go overtime and control debate

'Susan is too too weak. A moderator can’t let a debater go overtime limits over and over just weakly and ineffectually saying, thank you, Mr Vice President,' a user commented

The moderator of Wednesday's Vice Presidential debate, USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page, was denounced by many on social media for letting Vice President Mike Pence dominate her during the discourse by continuing to speak over her. A few users even compared her performance to Fox News' Chris Wallace's, who moderated the first presidential debate last month and was also criticized as a moderator, and suggested that Page fared worse than Wallace. 

One Twitter user wrote: "Chris Wallace did not do a great job, but I don't think anyone could have moderated a debate between Joe Biden and a man-child throwing a tantrum and had it turn out well. Susan Page allowed herself to be dominated by Pence the entire time, and she could have stopped it." Another wrote: "Susan Page’s ultimate failure is that she made the first black woman ever to participate in a #VPdebate fight for equal treatment and equal time. That’s just not okay." A third wrote: "Susan is too too weak. A moderator can’t let a debater go overtime limits over and over just weakly and ineffectually saying, “Thank you, Mr Vice President.”

"If the moderator allowing Pence to take 20 seconds of time while the moderator says "thank you...thank you...thank you" whilst Harris says 'you're welcome" then I NEED to be on the women's side," added another. One wrote: "I didn't think a moderator could do worse than Chris Wallace, but Susan Page did. She let Mike Pence repeatedly interrupt and talk over the first Black woman ever to participate in a VP debate fight for equal time. Kamala Harris got her points in but the dynamics were abominable." While a sixth thought Pence never listened to Page: "Every single answer Pence has gone over time--and refused to listen to Susan Page when she tried to stop him."

Some users, however, commended Page on her performance as a moderator during the vice presidential debate, which was far more controlled than the presidential debate last month. 

The Vice Presidential candidates of 2020, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, faced off on October 7 at 9 pm ET for the first and only general election vice presidential debate of the year in Salt Lake City, Utah. The discourse was moderated by Page and the two candidates were separated by plexiglass barriers and given a distance of 12 feet. Harris, during the debate, rapped Pence repeatedly, saying: "Mr Vice President, please let me speak" after getting interrupted. The swipe was reminiscent of the nature of the first 2020 presidential debate where President Donald Trump incessantly interrupted Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

The Senator, over the topic of vaccination, said that she would be the first in line to take a vaccine if medical experts recommend to take it. Harris also slammed Pence, saying "You respect the American people when you tell them the truth" attacking the Trump administration over the spread of misinformation amid the pandemic. Meanwhile, Pence continued to defend Trump's statement during the course of the debate and backed him as a "businessman" who would revive the country's economy by being a "job creator".