Pence, Harris will sit farther apart during VP debate in Utah next week, panel says
When the two candidates meet on a stage at the University of Utah, they will be 12 feet apart instead of the originally planned 7 feet, a report said
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris will be putting more distance between them at their one-and-only debate scheduled for Wednesday night, according to reports.
When the two candidates meet on a stage at the University of Utah, they will be 12 feet apart instead of the originally planned 7 feet, Politico reported.
The change followed a request from the Biden campaign that was approved Friday by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the report said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Another Biden campaign request -- that Pence and Harris stand for the debate rather than sit -- was denied. Having them seated was the preference of the Trump campaign, according to Politico.
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Earlier Friday, a debate host spokesman confirmed to Fox News that the vice presidential debate would proceed as scheduled, despite President Trump’s positive test for the corinavirus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“The University of Utah is still planning on hosting a debate,” Shawn Wood said.
Masks will be required for every person in the debate room -- other than Pence, Harris and moderator Susan Page, Washington Bureau chief for USA Today, he added.
When asked if the candidates will be required to take an on-site coronavirus test, Wood responded: “What I can say is we are requiring everyone to have a negative test before they enter the facilities, the debate hall, or the security perimeter.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Trump and first lady Melania tested positive for coronavirus in the early hours of Friday morning, after traveling with White House adviser Hope Hicks, who tested positive hours before, to a campaign event in Duluth, Minn.
Hicks displayed symptoms of coronavirus Wednesday night, according to a source, either during or after the Duluth event. She was quarantined aboard Air Force One on the way back and tested positive on Thursday morning, the source said.
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Pence and his wife, second lady Karen Pence, have tested negative for the virus, as have Joe and Jill Biden. Biden was in Trump’s proximity at the debate Tuesday night in Cleveland.
Harris tweeted Friday that she and her husband, Douglas Emhoff, both tested negative for the virus.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel also tested positive for the virus, along with Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
Fox News' Hilary Vaughn, Jacqui Heinrich and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.