With more than 146,000 deaths and counting, the United States has been the hardest hit country by COVID-19.

In this first episode of a special Head to Head series, we challenge prominent members of the Republican and Democratic parties on their handling of the crisis.

In part one, Mehdi Hasan challenges Jack Kingston, a surrogate for the Donald Trump campaign, and a former Republican congressman.

Our second guest, Jess O'Connell, is the former CEO of the Democratic National Committee who has worked on Hillary Clinton and Pete Buttigieg's presidential campaigns.

So, who is to blame for the US COVID-19 catastrophe?

*Editor's Note: These interviews were recorded on July 9 and 13, and since then, some of the data quoted has changed, including the number of cases and the death toll, which have sadly grown exponentially.