Pence pokes at Biden history, says 'plagiarism' is 'something Joe Biden knows a little bit about'

Vice President Mike Pence delivered the first hit-line in his debate Wednesday evening with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris when he suggested she and running-mate Joe Biden had copied the Trump-Pence coronavirus-response plan. 

"It looks like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little but about," said Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force. 

Harris began the roughly two-hour debate by saying the Trump/Pence administration "has forfeited their right to reelection" and calling its response the "greatest failure of any administration in the history of our country."

One rhetorical refrain the vice president came back to throughout the evening was,"You're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts" – a phrase made popular by the late-Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan.

Moderator Susan Page made clear at the start of the broadcast that she intended to keep the debate under control to avoid a repeat of the first 2020 presidential debate with President Trump and Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee.  

"We want a debate that is lively," Page said. "But Americans also deserve a debate that is civil."