Top 5 vice presidential debate moments between Pence, Harris

In a debate that was both contentious but also cooled down by several degrees compared to last week's presidential debate, Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris squared off Wednesday night on topics ranging from the pandemic to health care to the USMCA.

Pence and Harris, D-Calif., one of whom no matter what will be the vice president to the oldest president of the United States ever elected by January, met in what will be their only face-to-face public appearance ahead of the election. Along with their convention speeches, the Wednesday debate will likely be their highest-profile moment during the campaign.

Here are the top five moments of the vice presidential debate.

1. Coronavirus dustup

Harris opened the debate with aggressive broadsides against the Trump administration's handling of the pandemic, taking her attack on its coronavirus response directly to the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

"The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country," Harris said.

"On Jan. 28 the vice president and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic," she continued. "And they knew what was happening and they didn't tell you... They knew and they covered it up. The president said it was a hoax."

Harris added: "This administration has forfeited their right to reelection based on this."

Pence responded by arguing that Joe Biden opposed some of the Trump administration's earliest actions on the coronavirus.

"I want the American people to know that from the very first day President Donald Trump has put the health of America first," Pence said before mentioning the ban on travel from China that Trump imposed. "Joe Biden opposed that decision, he said it was xenophobic and hysterical."

And in response to Harris' allegations that the Trump administration doesn't have a plan for the pandemic and Biden does, Pence said that Biden's plans are very similar to testing, tracing and other efforts the Trump administration has worked on.

"When I look at their plan," Pence said, "it looks a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about."