Vice Presidential Debate Highlights 2016: Best Video Clips, Questions And Insults From Kaine And Pence
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A heated debate Tuesday night between the vice presidential nominees — Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine — saw two seasoned politicians do their best to help their running mates, Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
The debate featured comments on a range of issues, including police brutality, immigration, insults in political discourse and terrorism. Kaine seemed focused on hitting Pence on his support for some of Trump's more controversial remarks. Pence, meanwhile, did an adept job of providing a calm defense of Trump's positions. Here are some of the key moments from the event Tuesday:
Pence mixed up the name of the host college, Virginia's Longwood University.
#CNNRealityCheck: Mike Pence calls Longwood University “Norwood University.” FALSE. https://t.co/5GQw8Fvcvh https://t.co/xMhBLnPjH7
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2016
Kaine talked about Trump's insults while Pence said Clinton is even worse.
Tim Kaine: "I can't imagine how Gov. Pence can defend the insult-driven, selfish, me-first style of Donald Trump" https://t.co/cctDyUC4Cz
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2016
Mike Pence: "Senator, you and Hillary Clinton would know a lot about an insult-driven campaign" #VPDebate https://t.co/YLvbt0ZNxz
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2016
.@mike_Pence: Trump's insults "small potatoes" compared to "basket of deplorables" https://t.co/9zgosSHNKa #debates https://t.co/KXm67Op44k
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 5, 2016
Pence shared his admiration for police officers.
Pence: "Police officers are the best of us...they put their lives on the line every single day." #Debates https://t.co/oxOQd59Rft
— ABC News (@ABC) October 5, 2016
Kaine praised community policing.
Kaine on community policing: "Build the bonds between the community and the police force" https://t.co/ycVOILzcj4 https://t.co/eImxuWbgBu
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2016
Kaine reviewed Trump's Twitter antics.
Kaine: “Donald Trump can’t start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot” #VPDebate https://t.co/QA1xMZSFLE
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2016
Kaine brought up Trump's taxes, and his refusal to release his returns.
.@mike_pence on @timkaine's characterization of @realDonaldTrump's immigration plan: "That's nonsense" pic.twitter.com/ccv1Itu1PT
— POLITICO (@politico) October 5, 2016
The candidates discussed immigration and deportation.
.@mike_pence on @timkaine's characterization of @realDonaldTrump's immigration plan: "That's nonsense" pic.twitter.com/ccv1Itu1PT
— POLITICO (@politico) October 5, 2016
Moderator CBS' Elaine Quijano tried to get the two VP candidates under control.
.@Elaine_Quijano: "Gentlemen, please." https://t.co/q1Zjnvokoa pic.twitter.com/AAEcV0crN0
— POLITICO (@politico) October 5, 2016
The two candidates debated safety, terrorism and the role of commander-in-chief.
Pence: "America is less safe today than it was the day that Barack Obama became President" https://t.co/P1BkpUzveZ https://t.co/Kum00PHwct
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2016
Pence: "America is less safe today than it was the day that Barack Obama became President" https://t.co/P1BkpUzveZ https://t.co/Kum00PHwct
— CNN (@CNN) October 5, 2016
Pence evades question on homegrown terrorism, stands by his plan to block Syrian refugees: https://t.co/0nuzHcvr2J https://t.co/8xE32mlEm3
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) October 5, 2016
Heading into the debate, the pressure was likely weighing heavier on Pence, who needed to right the ship after a bad stretch for Trump. Before the first presidential debate between Clinton and Trump, the race had tightened significantly. But a strong performance from Clinton, and a disastrous stretch for Trump, allowed Clinton to open up a wider lead in national polls and swing states. Heading into the VP debate Tuesday, she was up 3.7 percentage points in the Real Clear Politics average of polls in a four-way race.
Voters had expected an even matchup between Pence and Kaine. A CNN poll of likely voters found that 38 percent thought Pence would win and 38 percent thought Kaine would win. Eight percent said there would be no difference between the two candidates while 13 percent had no opinion on the matter.
Heading into the event, an ABC News survey found that more than 40 percent of Americans couldn't even name the VP nominee of either party. The two candidates were not particularly well-liked either. An August Gallup poll found 33 percent of respondents have a favorable impression of Kaine while 36 percent had a favorable impression of Pence.
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