2016 VP Debate Recap
Moderator: CBS Elaine Quijano
Location: Farmville, Virgínia
Democrat: Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
Republican: Indiana Governor Mike Pence
The two men shook hands in a very collegial manner. Sitting at the table.
EQ: Why are you qualified to be president?
TK: Platitudes. Stronger together. Community of respect. Cited Brown v Board of Education. He has been a missionary and a civil rights lawyer. To be Hillary Clinton’s right-hand person. We trust her. Donald Trump scares us.
MP: America’s place in world weaken, economy stifled, war on coal. Small town boy from the cornfield. I bring a lifetime of experience. I led a state that works.
EQ: Why do 60% distrust Hillary Clinton? Is it because of the email server and the Clinton Foundation?
TK: They should trust her because she has a passion and follows that passion. Her life’s work is putting others first. Trump always puts others first. He built his business on the backs of the little guy.
EQ: Why do so many Americans think Trump lacks the temperament?
MP: TK and Hillary Clinton would know about the insult driven campaign. Syria is the failed foreign policy of Hillary Clinton. Kaine interrupted and the moderator stopped him. Trump built a business. He’s employed tens of thousands of people. Kaine interrupted again.
TK: You are Donald Trump’s Apprentice. Governor Pence thinks the world isn’t going so well?
MP: Do you?
TK kept interrupting. Given that this debate had the two guys calmly at the table, Kaine came across as bombastic.
MP: Iraq has been overrun by ISIS.
TK: Blamed George W. Bush 43 for Iraq.
ECONOMY
EQ: Your plans add more debt. Are you concerned?
MP: Hillary Clinton doubled the debt. Indiana has a 2 billion surplus. TK tried to 1 raise taxes 1 trillion, left Virginia 2 billion in the whole. Bill Clinton called ACA a crazy plan. Hillary Clinton thinks it’s a good start. Repeal ACA lock, stock and barrel. Repeal O44 executive orders. Repeal war on coal. Get back to 3-4% growth, we can bring down debt.
TK: Choice between “you’re hired” of Hillary or “you’re fired” by Trump.
Hillary Plan
Invest in clean energy
Invest in work force including debt free college
Promote fairness through higher minimum wage, equal pay for women
Promote small business growth
Raise taxes on rich
Trump Plan
Eliminate minimum wage.
Massive tax breaks for very top.
Blamed Bush tax cuts of 2001 for recession of 2008.
EQ: Trump’s tax return. Is it fair?
MP: More taxes, 2 trillion more spending, more deficits, more debt. Slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression. People in Scranton know different. People in Fort Wayne more different.
Trump is a businessman who used the tax code legally. He has created tens of thousands of jobs.
TK: Trump broke his word. Trump thinks it’s smart not to pay for our military and our veterans.
EQ: How would you save Social Security?
TK: We will protect SS. We will never ever engage in a risky scheme to privatize SS. We will look for ways to keep it solvent.
MP: We are going to meet our obligations to our seniors.
TK: Insisted Trump will raise taxes on middle class.
EQ: Law enforcement and race relations—Do we ask too much of cops?
TK: We put a lot on police shoulders. We support community policing. Trump supports stop and frisk. That polarizes the relationship. Hillary has a comprehensive plan. I’m a strong Second Amendment supporter. If we close background checks, we won’t have incidents like Virginia Tech. Blamed the death of a Holocaust survivor in Virginia Tech shooting on not enough gun control.
MP: Police officers are the best of it. My grandfather was a cop. We agree withy community policing. We need law and order. Fraternal Order of Police supports Trump. Cops hear bad-mouthing coming from O44 & Hillary. Using broad brush of institutional racism has to stop. Charlotte was a tragedy, but Hillary Clinton called it implicit bias in the police force. It was a black cop who shot a black victim.
TK: People should not be afraid to bring up implicit bias.
MP: I’m not afraid to bring that up.
TK: Minneapolis victim was killed for no apparent reason. Minorities get harsher sentences.
MP: Indiana has passed criminal justice reform.
EQ: Senator Tim Scott has been stopped seven times. What would you say?
MP: Senator Scott is a close friend. We need criminal justice reform. I signed it in Indiana. I worked on the Second Chance Act. Trump and I say we should not assume the worst of cops. Law enforcement is a force for good. TK rejects stop and frisk.
TK: Trump has attacked Mexicans and women and an Indiana born federal judge. He attacked Senator John McCain. Trump was a birther, an outrageous and bigoted lie.
EQ: Immigration. What would you tell undocumented immigrants who have not committed violent crimes?
MP: Trump will end illegal immigration. Hillary and TK support open borders. This leads to sanctuary cities and more crime, and drive wages down. Hillary Clinton said Trump supporters were a basket of deplorable and irredeemable.
TK: Hillary walked it back. Trump will never apologize. We believe in comprehensive immigration reform. Trump wants deportation nation. He and MP want to eliminate birthright citizenship. They want to kick out 16 million people.
MP: We already have a deportation force. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. They endorsed Trump. Hillary wants open borders. Trump laid out priorities that begin with border security. There is heartbreak and tragedies befalling families because those who came here illegally are committing crimes. We will enforce the law of this country. TK, I’ll work with you when you go back to the Senate.
TK: Trump said they will all be gone. We are a nation of immigrants. MP and I are both from immigrant families.
EQ: Terrorism. Is world safer or more dangerous than 8 years ago?
TK: Decreased in some ways. Bin Laden dead. Not 175,000 soldiers in Iraq. Hillary was a Senator on 9/11. She has a plan. She was part of the team who wiped out ISIL. We have to work with allies. Trump can’t start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot. Trump thinks he knows more than the generals. He trash talks the military. He wants to tear up alliances. He only wants to work with Israel if they pay up big league. He wants more nations like Saudi Arabia to have nuclear weapons.
MP: Did you work on that one a long time? America is less safe than when Barack Obama became president. Lack of leadership. I was in DC on 9/11. O44 got the head of al Qaeda. The threat today is ISIS. ISIS was created because we abandoned Iraq. This administration squandered the Iraq gains. You didn’t stop Iran’s nuclear program. You guaranteed they would get nuclear weapons.
EQ: Homegrown attacks. What would you do to prevent those?
MP: It starts with reforming immigration and putting the safety of Americans first. Don’t allow people in who are hostile to our Bill of Rights. We will suspend Syrian refugee program. Hillary and TK want to increase Syrian refugee program.
TK: We want to focus on who is dangerous. They say all Mexicans are bad.
MP: 2 Syrian refugees were involved in the attack on Paris. FBI Director said we cannot know who the people coming in are. We have to err on the side of protecting the people first.
EQ: What is an intelligence surge?
TK: Hiring great professionals, working with best cyber professionals. Creating stronger alliances. Trump thinks NATO is obsolete. Hillary built sanctions that stopped Iran.
MP: Hillary Clinton had a private server that revealed drone strikes.
TK: She was cleared by Republican FBI Director.
MP: If your son or mine did what Hillary Clinton did, they would-be imprisoned.
EQ: Syria. Does the USA have a responsibility to prevent mass casualties?
MP: We need strong leadership. Hillary was responsible for Russian reset. Russians took over Crimea and invaded Ukraine. Putin puts missile defense system in Syria while O44 retreats. We must rebuild our military. Smallest Navy since 1916. Lowest number of troops since WWII. Syria, establish safe zones. Russian provocations need to be met with American strengths. The USA should be prepared to use military force. Deploy a missile defense shield to Poland and Czech Republic, which O44 and Hillary undid.
TK: Agree on humanitarian zone. Hillary can stand up to Russia in a way the GOP ticket cannot. Trump campaign had pro-Putin forces in it. Trump belongs in a fifth grade civics class. Trump will not rebuild military. He is avoiding taxes.
MP: Weak and feckless O44 and Hillary Clinton foreign policy has awakened the Russian bear. All we do is fold our hands and say we will not talk to them.
EQ: How do safe zones work?
MP: Framework exists with our allies. I was on the Foreign Affairs Committee for a decade.
TK: We stopped Iranian nuclear weapons. We’re down from 175,000 Iraq troops to 15,000 troops. Ronald Reagan said some fool or maniac could blow us all up. That person is Donald Trump.
MP: That was even beneath you and Hillary Clinton, and that is pretty low.
TK: Implied that Israel supported the Democrat ticket.
MP: You boycotted Israeli PM Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.
TK: Pence cannot defend Trump.
EQ: What can be done to counter Putin’s Russian aggression?
TK: Don’t praise Putin. Trump and Pence say he is a great leader. Hillary went toe to toe with Russia. She lodged protests when they eat into Georgia. We put punishing sanctions on Russia. Trump will put his own bottom line ahead of the country.
MP: Hillary’s Russian reset directly led to Russia gobbled up Crimea. Trump said this was not happen again. Russia has increased its influence in Iran. Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is imploding. ISIS is headquartered in Rocca. TK is a loyal soldier who keeps saying we are safer. We gave a ransom payment to Iran.
EQ: You said Putin has no respect for O44 or Hillary. Why would he respect Trump?
MP: Strength. We have a stronger military and economy. Bullying leader of Russia has been stronger than our leader. Weak and feckless leadership of O44 and Hillary. Putin has been stronger on the world stage.
EQ: What went wrong with the Russian reset?
TK: Vladimir Putin. He is a dictator. Hillary knows exactly who he is. There are areas we can cooperate. She knows how to sit down at a table and negotiate tough deals.
EQ: North Korea conducted fifth and most powerful nuclear test. What would you do?
MP: We need to make a commitment to rebuild our military, modernize our nuclear forces. We need to work with Pacific Rim nations to pressure North Korea. With Trump, we will not have the posture of the world flouting American power. Return to peace through strength. TK keeps obsessing over Trump’s tax returns. Clinton Foundation accepted millions of dollars from foreign donors. This is illegal. Foreign governments donated millions, and half of her meetings were with Foundation donors. She operates the pay to play politics.
TK: I am glad to talk about the Foundation. It is one of the highest rated foundations in the world. It ranks higher than the Red Cross. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State took no action to benefit the Foundation. The State Department conducted the investigation and backs her up. Trump made an illegal contribution to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
MP: Trump foundation, almost every cent goes to charity. Less than 10 cents on the dollar of the Clinton Foundation goes to charity. Hillary should turn over her 33,000 emails so we can see what the Foundation does.
EQ: Preemptive nuclear strike on North Korea if they launched a missile?
TK: You would have to take action. I am on the Foreign Relations Committee. We issued sanctions. We’re working with China. Hillary stood up on women’s issues while speaking in China. He returned to Trump’s business dealings for about the billionth time.
EQ: Social issues. When did you struggle to balance your faith and public policy?
TK: I’m an Irish Catholic. Worked with Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. I don’t believe one religion should be put above any other one. My struggle was with the death penalty. I am against it, but as Governor of Virginia I had to enforce it. I upheld the law when there is no case for clemency. We cannot substitute our own views for everyone else’s.
MP: My Christian faith is at the very heart of who I am. For me, the sanctity of life is key. Indiana has expanded non-abortion alternatives. We are on our way to be the most pro-adoption state. I don’t understand how Hillary Clinton and TK can support partial birth abortion. Hillary Clinton wants to repeal Hyde Amendment that bans using tax dollars to fund overseas abortion.
TK: Hillary is religious. Her Methodist teachings matter to her. The public servant cannot mandate religion. We support Roe vs Wade. We trust American to make their own decision. Trump thinks women should be punished. MP wants to overturn Roe vs Wade.
MP: Trump and I would never support legislation to punish women. Trump is not a polished politician like Hillary and TK. Regarding Mexicans, Trump also said that many of them are good people. TK has supported the Hyde Amendment. We need a culture that embraces life. Mother Theresa said we should welcome the children into our world.
TK: Why don’t you and Trump trust women to make that choice themselves?
MP: A society is judged by how it handles its most vulnerable. I’m proud to stand with a pro-life candidate.
EQ: How will you unify the country?
TK: Hillary is about ideas, Trump is about insults. Republican Senators respect and hold Hillary in high regard. She worked across the aisle after 9/11. She has a track record of working across the aisle. I have the same track record in Virginia. I have two Republican Houses I have to work with.
MP: We can weaken America like O44 and Hillary Clinton have with higher taxes, more regulations, and the war on coal. The best way to bring people together is change in DC. The potential is there, but it will take leadership. I was in congress for 12 years. Americans want to see us standing tall, rebuilding our military, and an economy off to the races again. Trump is about building. Smarts and ingenuity. Making America Great Again will bring real change. That will bring Americans together and bring the unity that has been missing for far too long.
The moderator was excellent. She was fair, polite and focused.
Mike Pence was serious, sober, and warm.
Tim Kaine acted like an obnoxious lout, repeatedly lobbing the same insults.
In the same way Trump kept interrupting Hillary in the presidential debate, Kaine kept doing that to Pence. Like Hillary, Pence did not take the bait.
Pence clearly won this debate.
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