Thread by @wusa9

Kamala Harris and Mike Pence are minutes away from facing off in tonight's #VPDebate2020.

Our Verify team will be live fact-checking tonight's biggest claims from both candidates and answering your questions.

HOW TO WATCH: bit.ly/3iG5WdN

Tonight's 90-minute #VPDebate is moderated by @USATODAY Washington bureau chief Susan Page.

"I am here to enforce the ground rules," Page said. 9 segments of 10 minutes each is expected, with 2 minutes to answer "without interruption."

Here we go: bit.ly/3iG5WdN

First up: How each candidate plans to handle COVID-19.
@KamalaHarris is first, mentioning both the timeline of discovering the disease and sharply criticizing the Trump administration's response.

Here's one of those claims that our Verify team checked:
bit.ly/36GWsgb

"How can you expect Americans to follow the administration safety guidelines to protect themselves from COVID you at the White House have not been doing so?" asks moderator Susan Page to @MikePence.

Here's when President Trump was diagnosed with COVID: bit.ly/2GQvRlJ

But will the coronavirus outbreak among several Republican Senators delay Judge Barrett’s confirmation hearings?

No, it won't. And here's why:

bit.ly/34DVTBf

#VPDebate

Another feature of tonight's historic #VPDebate : Plexiglass barriers, as well as both Harris and Pence being at least 12 feet apart.

Who decides these rules for the debate? Meet the committee who is in charge of any rule changes:

bit.ly/36HeJK9

Mike Pence claimed at the #VPDebate that "the reality is that we will have a vaccine, we believe before the end of this year."

That timeline isn't clear or confirmed-- and research on blood types and COVID-19 severity show contradictions:

bit.ly/2GDRupH

"Joe Biden will not ban fracking," says @KamalaHarris. It's a claim that keeps coming up in tonight's #VPDebate in Salt Lake City.

Our Verify team looked into @JoeBiden's public statements in the last 5 months on the topic, and he's been consistent:

bit.ly/2F8JpIS

What about mail-in ballots? They are still being accepted after Election Day, but they have to be postmarked by November 3.

Here's how to check your state's guidelines:

wusa9.com/article/news/v…

Both candidates in tonight's #VPDebate have been talking about 'court-packing'. Congress can change the number of justices on the court, but it hasn't been done in over 150 years.

bit.ly/36JJD4v

Claim from #VPDebate : When Joe Biden was VP, 60M Americans contracted swine flu.

This is an accurate representation of CDC data, BUT the time range is not the same-- there was an estimated 60.8M cases of H1N1 from April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010.

bit.ly/3jFSR5F