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U.S. NEWS Thursday 8 OcTOber 2020
Continued from Front "She's not there to eviscerate Mike Pence," said al security, including the killing of the group's
Trailing in polls, Trump and Pence have no Symone Sanders, an adviser who has been in leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
time to lost; Election Day is less than four weeks Harris' debate prep. "She is there to really talk to While the debate will cover a range of topics,
away, and millions of Americans are already people at home." the virus will be at the forefront.
casting ballots. Harris' team predicted she would focus on Pence serves as chair of the president's coro-
Before Harris says a word, she will make history Trump's yearlong efforts to downplay the pan- navirus task force, which has failed to imple-
by becoming the first Black woman to stand on demic, the fact that many schools are still ment a comprehensive national strategy even
a vice presidential debate stage. The night of- closed and Trump's declaration this week that as Trump himself recovers from the disease and
fers her a prime opportunity to energize would- he would end talks on a fresh coronavirus eco- the national death toll surges past 210,000 with
be voters who have shown only modest excite- nomic relief package until after the election. no end in sight.
ment about Biden, a lifelong politician with a Harris will also have the chance to explain her The candidates will appear on stage exactly
mixed record on race and criminal justice, par- views on law enforcement, an area in which 12.25 feet (3.7 meters) apart and separated by
ticularly in his early years in the Senate. she's irked some progressives, given her past as plexiglass barriers. Both candidates released
Harris, a 55-year-old California senator, is the a prosecutor. updated coronavirus test results ahead of the
daughter of a Jamaican father and an Indian Meanwhile, Pence aims to highlight the ad- debate proving they were negative as of Tues-
mother. She is also a former prosecutor whose ministration's economic record and attempt to day. Critics suggested that Pence should not
pointed questioning of Trump's appointees and portray the Democratic ticket as beholden to be at the debate at all.
court nominees helped make her a Democrat- the "radical left," former GOP Gov. Scott Walker The vice president attended an event last week
ic star. of Wisconsin, who is helping the vice president at the White House with Trump and others who
Pence is a 61-year-old former Indiana gover- prepare for the debate, said on "Fox & Friends." have since tested positive, but Pence's staff
nor and ex-radio host, an evangelical Christian Just as Harris will likely speak directly to Trump at and doctors insist he does not need to quaran-
known for his folksy charm and unwavering times, Pence is likely to speak at Biden and pro- tine under Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
loyalty to Trump. And while he is Trump's big- gressives, who have called for a government vention guidelines. The CDC defines risky "close
gest public defender, the vice president does run health care system known as "Medicare contact" as being within 6 feet (1.8 meters) of
not share the president's brash tone or undisci- for All" and sweeping environmental reforms an infected person for at least 15 minutes start-
plined style. to combat climate change called the "Green ing from two days before the onset of symp-
Just eight days ago, Trump set the tone for the New Deal." Biden opposes both plans in favor of toms or a positive test.
opening presidential debate, which was per- more moderate steps that would still be among While some Democrats have set high expecta-
haps the ugliest in modern history. Wednesday's the most significant changes for health care tions for the debate, Harris and her allies have
affair is expected to be far more respectful. and environmental policy in the modern era. been trying to keep them low.
Harris advisers say she does not plan to con- Pence will be joined in the debate hall by sev- "We know that Vice President Pence is formi-
stantly fact-check Pence on stage and will in- eral guests, including the parents of Kayla Muel- dable debater, and we know that tonight is a
stead spend her time making the case directly ler, a humanitarian aid worker who was killed in challenge," said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. "But all
to the American people about what a Biden- 2015 by Islamic State militants. Their presence is those who know and love Kamala just have a
Harris administration would offer. intended to highlight Trump's record on nation- lot of confidence in her."q

High court nominee served as 'handmaid' in religious group

WASHINGTON (AP) — Su- authenticity of the directo- leaders offer advice and
preme Court nominee Amy ry pages. He said he could guidance. They will also or-
Coney Barrett served as a not say precisely what year ganize to help others in the
"handmaid," the term then the directory was from, but community, such as provid-
used for high-ranking fe- that it had to be 2013 or ing meals when someone
male leaders in the People earlier because one of the gets sick. Under the orga-
of Praise religious commu- people listed had by then nization's rules, no female
nity, an old directory for the moved to another state. leader can provide pas-
group's members shows. All the top leaders within toral supervision to a man,
Barrett has thus far refused People of Praise are male, former members said.
to discuss her membership but in each of the group's People of Praise's belief sys-
in the Christian organiza- 22 regional branches a se- tem is rooted in the Catho-
tion, which opposes abor- lect group of women is en- lic Pentecostal movement,
tion and, according to for- trusted with mentoring and which emphasizes a per-
mer members, holds that offering spiritual guidance sonal relationship with Jesus
men are divinely ordained to other female members. and can include baptism President Donald Trump adjusts the microphone after he an-
nounced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his nominee to the Su-
as the "head" of both the Until recently, these female in the Holy Spirit. As prac- preme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday,
family and faith, while it is leaders were called "hand- ticed by People of Praise, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. Associated Press.
the duty of wives to obey maids," a reference to Je- that can include praying in
them. sus' mother Mary, who ac- tongues to receive divine as a handmaid was first in 2017, when her name
Portions of two People of cording to the Bible called prophecies, heal the sick reported by The Washing- first emerged on President
Praise directory pages for herself "the handmaid of and cast out evil spirits, ac- ton Post late Tuesday. The Donald Trump's short list for
the South Bend, Indiana, the Lord." The organization cording to documents and AP reported last week that potential nomination to the
branch were shared with recently changed the ter- former members. a 2006 issue of the group's Supreme Court.
The Associated Press by minology to "woman lead- Founded in 1971, the non- internal magazine, Vine & Back issues of the maga-
a former member of the er" because it had newly profit organization has 22 Branches, included a pho- zine, tax returns and other
community on condition of negative connotations branches across North tograph showing that Bar- documents showed Bar-
anonymity because of the after Margaret Atwood's America. It is not a church, rett had attend a national rett's father served as the
sensitivity of the issue and dystopian novel "The Hand- but a faith community that conference reserved for principal leader of People
because this person still has maid's Tale" was turned into includes people from sever- top female leaders in Peo- of Praise's New Orleans
family members in People a popular television show. al Christian denominations, ple of Praise. branch and was on the
of Praise. A second former The leaders run weekly though most of its roughly The group had deleted group's all-male Board
member, Gene Stowe, who mens' or womens' groups of 1,800 adult members are copies of that magazine of Governors as recently
left the South Bend branch about half a dozen people Roman Catholic. and other back issues as 2017. Her mother also
on good terms several where they pray and talk The existence of the direc- mentioning Barrett and served in the branch as a
years ago, confirmed the together, and where the tory listing Barrett's name her family from its website handmaid.q