If the first presidential debate of 2016 was seen as Donald Trump debating both Hillary Clinton and the moderator, the sole vice presidential debate was seen as an exercise in Mike Pence dealing with constant interruptions by his opponent — with the moderator’s blessing.
Did they have a problem dealing with the truth?
Clip via Fox News Channel
Fox News contributor Chris Stirewalt said the interruptions were indicative of how each candidate prepared for the evening. While Indiana Gov. Pence actually boned up on the issues, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine memorized a string of talking points he was eager to display.
“You could tell that [Kaine] had all these lines that he wanted to get in,” Stirewalt said. “And it was too much and he couldn’t quite handle it.”
Fox News host Howard Kurtz agreed, and said that although he enjoys politics, the debate gave him a headache.
“Elaine Quijano, the moderator from CBS, let this debate careen out of control,” Kurtz said. “I think as time went on Kaine lost this debate because his attacks were less forceful as they became more scattershot.”
And that wasn’t just a Fox News observation. Liberal and mainstream media took notice also.
Pence sounds like an adult. Kaine sounds like he just sucked helium out of a birthday balloon.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) October 5, 2016
Kaine is interrupting a lot. Wonder how that will go over with voters.
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 5, 2016
Kaine retreating to canned lines isn’t exactly making him seem authentic.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) October 5, 2016
Tim Kaine interrupting like a wild man. Not good.
— Chris Cillizza (@TheFix) October 5, 2016
All this interrupting does not make for a clear discussion.
— Luciana Lopez (@Luciana_F_Lopez) October 5, 2016
Kaine’s constant interruptions, when placed alongside Pence’s discussion of the issues, didn’t bode well for the Virginia Democrat as a Frank Luntz focus group proved.
Mike Pence’s attacks on Hillary’s foreign policy is scoring much better than Tim Kaine’s interruptions. #VPDebate pic.twitter.com/mfDZ7pgNSS
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) October 5, 2016
Context for this: @MegynKelly quipped that Trump is “surrounded by his team,” controlling his tweets, “like, Kellyanne’s got the thumbs…” https://t.co/Nf4XG28aF6
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) October 5, 2016
Some sarcastic commenters harkened back to when Trump was called “sexist” by many on the left for interrupting Hillary Clinton at the presidential debate and compared it to, not only Kaine’s interruptions of Pence but of the female moderator.
Tim Kaine is such a sexist, interrupting like this. #VPDebate
— Ian Tuttle (@iptuttle) October 5, 2016
Kaine interrupted Pence 70+ times during the #VPDebate. TBT to the last debate when the media called Trump sexist for interrupting Hillary.
— Danielle Butcher (@DaniSButcher) October 5, 2016
Donald Trump was an uncouth sexist for interrupting Hillary Clinton.
Tim Kaine is a hero for interrupting Mike Pence.
Discuss.#VPDebate— Joe Cunningham (@JoePCunningham) October 5, 2016
pretty disgusted with how sexist Tim Kaine was in interrupting the moderator constantly. No respect for women #vpdebate
— Belligerent Stork. ♔ (@aburbeconditaX) October 5, 2016
@NBCNews is even saying @GovMikePence won the debate. Says @KimKaine came across as sexist for interrupting female moderator. #VPDebate
— DeplorableHardWorker (@conservoutreach) October 5, 2016
Time Kaine is sexist. Interrupting @Elaine_Quijano right and left. #VPDebate
— Joshua Denton (@JoshDDenton) October 5, 2016
Nagourney, writing for The New York Times, concluded that Kaine’s interruptions indicated that he “appears To Have Had A Few Too Many Cups Of Coffee.”
Not a good night for the Democrats — and not a good night for the electorate.
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