5 Memorable Moments from the Kaine-Pence VP Debate
The vice presidential debate may end up being inconsequential. It may even be forgotten by Sunday, when presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump again face off in a town hall format. But this debate was more contentious than perhaps had been predicted.
Democratic VP candidate Tim Kaine’s strategy was transparent from the outset — keep Republican Mike Pence on the defensive and having to answer for each and every one of his running mate Trump’s statement. But Kaine did so by repeatedly interrupting Pence during what seemed like every attempt his rival made to answer a question.
Pence largely deflected and, in a cool manner, tried to shift the focus to Hillary Clinton. He diverged with Trump on some issues, like Trump’s odd praise of Vladimir Putin, and said that it was “absolutely false” that Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. The press release announcing that proposal is still on the Trump campaign website.
Still, Pence’s visible irritations at Kaine — shaking his head at times, at other times using a Ronald Reagan line — may have been felt by undecided voters as well. Kaine came in with a canned line and a clear strategy. He tried to tie Pence to a flurry of outrageous comments. But perhaps he underestimated Pence’s ability to stay collected.
Here are the five moments that stood out:
Vladimir Putin. The first signal that Kaine would be an attacker — and not a folksy dad — came early in the debate, as Pence criticized the foreign policy of the Obama administration and Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. “You love Russia,” Kaine said, foreshadowing an evening in which Putin’s name was mentioned repeatedly.
It was a reference to Trump’s comments in praise of Putin, and Trump and Paine’s statements that the Russian president was a stronger leader than President Obama. Later, Kaine said that Trump looked up to a “Mount Rushmore” of dictators, while Pence dismissed the comment as a scripted talking point.
Pence several times called Clinton’s campaign an “avalanche of insults,” but he eventually did try to criticize Putin, too, calling the Russian president small” and “bullying,” while also criticizing U.S. policy. “The provocations by Russia need to be met by American strength,” he said.
That statement seemed to diverge from one made by Trump earlier in the campaign season, which praised potential Russian military action in Syria.
Taxes tiff. Pence defended Trump in the latest controversy swirling around the campaign — the New York Times’ report that showed Trump paid no income taxes in 1995 — and perhaps didn’t in succeeding years, either.
“He used the tax code just the way it is supposed to be used,” Pence said.
Yet this was perhaps a no-win issue for Pence, because it emboldened Kaine to repeatedly bring up the question of why Trump has yet to release his tax returns as other presidential candidates have.
Faith. The few minutes free of verbal sparring came when both candidates talked about the role of faith in their leadership. It actually was one of the more compelling moments of the debate, and it offered some insight into how the two men approach religion and politics.
Kaine talked about having to uphold Virginia’s death penalty law even though, as a Catholic, he opposes it.
Pence talked about the “sanctity of life,” his opposition to abortion, and the importance of adoption.
But it was only a brief moment before the candidates argued over, you guessed it, one of Trump’s past comments. That was his statement to MSNBC talk-show host Chris Matthews last spring that women who have abortions should be punished. Pence denied that was a campaign policy. Trump is “not a polished politician like you and Hillary Clinton,” he said.
“That Mexican thing.” Kaine repeatedly brought up Trump’s comments about Mexican immigrants during the debate, and in the waning moments did so again. Pence’s response was clunky — one of the instances were he seemed to truly be annoyed.
“Senator, you have whipped out that Mexican thing again,” Pence said.
“Can you defend it?” Kaine asked, without missing a beat.
“Gentlemen, please.” Moderator Elaine Quijano got some flack on social media for not interrupting the candidates enough, doing little fact-checking of their arguments asking few follow-up questions. But she did admonish both of them at one point, saying, “Gentlemen, please,” and at another issued a warning that their sparring made it impossible for viewers to even understand them.
Perhaps that can be said of much of this election campaign.
Related stories
Vice Presidential Debate: Candidates Play the Name Game
Who Won the Tim Kaine-Mike Pence Debate? Vote Now!
Watch Live Stream: Mike Pence, Tim Kaine Face Off in VP Debate
Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
