***Live Updates*** Pence, Kaine Square Off in VP Debate

Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine will square off in tonight’s vice-presidential debate at Longwood University in Virginia.

Before last week’s first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, all of the momentum was on Trump’s side. With a solid debate performance, Trump could have put Clinton’s campaign on the ropes by giving undecided voters who want change some reasons to vote for him. But after an unprepared Trump missed opportunity after opportunity to make the case against Clinton—and for himself—before a record audience, the momentum this week is on Clinton-Kaine’s side. Trump squandered all of the momentum he had in national and swing-state polls with a debate performance that made Hillary Clinton look like Bill Belichick with her discipline and game plan while Trump seemed like a lost rookie quarterback who did not even bother to learn the team’s plays.

And this debate, which takes place in Kaine’s home state of Virginia, has the feel of one in which Kaine will have a short field for 90 minutes, especially if most of the questions will focus on all of Trump’s recent “scandals.” The seasoned Pence, who will not be unprepared and will not wing it, must flip the field back in Team Trump’s favor before Trump’s second debate with Clinton on Sunday.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates.

All times eastern.

 

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12:22: It seemed like Team Clinton were going for it on fourth down deep in Team Trump’s territory late in the fourth quarter to ice the game and got stuffed. Ball goes back to Team Trump. Up to Trump not to turn it over on Sunday like he did last week.

12:10:

11:55: All Trump needs to do is step up his game on Sunday and not wing it.

11:42: “Narrowly”?

https://twitter.com/moneyries/status/783512751511592965

11:15: Interesting spin from Team Clinton:

11:05: On CNN, Eric Trump says Hillary Clinton has been a politician longer than he has been alive. He slams Clinton’s foreign policy, the Clinton Foundation, and her email scandal. CNN’s Bash points out that Eric Trump is doing what his father failed to do last week before a record debate audience. Eric Trump says the difference between his dad and Clinton is that Clinton has lived off the government. He says his father has paid a “tremendous amount” of taxes, including federal income tax. He says Clinton has never signed the front of a paycheck while his father has employed tens of thousands of people. Eric Trump wonders how Clinton went from being “dead broke” to being worth hundreds of millions of dollars after leaving the White House.

10:54: Trump campaign hitting back on taxes:

10:52: Pence could have done more to hammer this home. Trump has two debates to do so:

10:49:

10:48:

10:46: Liberal Kohn conceding Pence won the debate with viewers:

10:45: Clinton campaign spinning:

10:43: Kaine irritated a lot of voters:

10:40: Interesting:

10:35: Very disjointed debate concludes.

10:30: Kaine is asked what he would do to unify the country if he/Clinton are elected after this “divisive” campaign. [Mainstream media love “unity” and “bipartisanship” questions because they think they are the oh-so-smart adults.] Kaine talks up Clinton’s bipartisan pieces of legislation on health care, national security. Kaine says he has the same track record of bipartisanship as Gov./Sen. of Virginia.

10:29: Trump should have informed the record debate audience last week about this. Many more viewers than he has Twitter followers.

Pence gets frustrated as Kaine keeps distorting Trump’s comments about ILLEGAL immigrants from Mexico:

10:23: Next segment is on social issues. Candidates are asked if they struggled balancing their personal faith and public policy. Kaine says his toughest struggle was that the Catholic Church and he are against the death penalty while Virginia has the death penalty. Kaine says he promised voters that he would uphold the law and it was a real struggle. Kaine says we can’t substitute our own views… Pence says his Christian faith is very much a part of who he is…He speaks about the sanctity of life. He says what he can’t understand is that Kaine/Clinton support something like partial-birth abortion. Pence could have pressed Kaine more, though, no the Hyde Amendment.

[Strong moment from Pence, especially as Trump is struggling to win over some Catholic voters in key swing states.]

10:17: Pence now pivots to the Clinton Foundation. He points out that the foundation accepted million from foreign governments and donors. Pence says the Clintons figured out a way to allow foreign donors and governments to donate millions to their foundation because they can’t do business in America. Pence blasts the “pay-to-play” politics of the Clinton Foundation. Kaine is now trying to defend the Clinton Foundation, saying it helps people with AIDS and opioid addiction. He claims Clinton took no action to benefit the foundation as Pence smirks at Kaine’s spin. Kaine now pivots to the Trump organization (he says it is an Octopus-like entity with tentacles all over the world) and foundation. He says Trump’s conflicts of interests would only be known if he releases his tax returns.

10:15: Kaine having trouble defending Clinton’s Russian reset as the debate now turns to North Korea and Iran. Candidates are asked what they would do to prevent North Korea from developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States. Pence says we need to put more pressure on North Korea to de-nuclearize. He says when Trump is president, Russia will not invade Ukraine and China will not build island on the South China Sea and we will go back to “peace through strength.”

10:13: “Strength,” Pence answers when asked why Putin would respect a Trump-Pence administration. He says says America’s political system is superior to Russia’s crony capitalist system. He again refers to Putin as the “small and bullying” leader of Russia. Kaine claims Pence said Putin was a better leader than Obama and we should go to the tape. Pence says he said Putin was stronger on the world stage than Obama. Kaine keeps hitting Trump on his tax returns, wondering if Trump is more worried about his bottom line than America’s.

10:10: Kaine’s interruptions not going over well. Also may reinforce the “know-it-all” smugness characterization of Clinton that voters do not like.

 

10:09: Kaine again slams Trump for praising Putin and not knowing that Putin had went into Crimea.

10:05: Bad format. Debate should perhaps have been six segments on broader topics:

10:03: Kaine says Trump’s support of nuclear proliferation will actually make the Middle East more dangerous. When Kaine quotes Reagan and says Trump is the fool/maniac Reagan warned about re; nuclear weapons, Pence says his attack was even beneath “you and Hillary Clinton, and that’s pretty low.”

10:01: Kaine now attacking Trump’s support of Putin and claims Trump may have business interests in Russia. Kaine says it offends him that Pence says Trump will rebuild the military when he has avoided paying taxes. Kaine keeps insisting that Trump doesn’t support the troops because he doesn’t pay taxes. Pence says Obama/Clinton’s weak foreign policy has awakened the Russian bear.

9:58: Candidates now asked about Syria. Quijano asks if the U.S. has a responsibility to prevent casualties on a mass scale. Pence says America needs to exercise strong leadership to protect children and vulnerable citizens in Aleppo. Pence says after Clinton’s Russian reset (they couldn’t even spell it right), Putin invaded Crimea. Pence also calls for air strikes on Syria and no-fly safe zones.

 

9:55: Pence points out that Clinton’s private server endangered the country’s national security, hammering the fast ball right down the middle that Trump whiffed on last week.

9:50: Good reviews for Pence when viewers were getting their first impressions:

9:49: Pence says it is “inarguable” that America is less safe. He says America has been weakened because of the country’s lack of leadership. Pence gives Obama credit for bringing bin Laden to justice. Pence says bin Laden led al Qaeda and the primary threat to day is ISIS. He says because of Clinton’s failure to negotiate a status of forces agreement, ISIS was strengthened. Pence is now asked about Trump’s proposed “extreme vetting” of new immigrants, and he says it really begins with America reforming its immigration system so we don’t bring into the country those who are hostile to our way of life. Pence mentions that he and Trump are committed to suspending the Syrian refugee program.

9:46: Debate now turns to terrorism. Kaine says the terrorist threat has decreased since Osama bin Laden is dead and the Iran deal was signed. Kaine says Clinton is the best person to defeat terrorism even though she was responsible for the rest of ISIS in the Middle East. Kaine goes over Clinton’s plan to defeat “ISIL.” Kaine says Trump can’t start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot. He mocks Trump for not having a plan and claiming to know more about terrorism than the generals. Kaine says Trump loves dictators and has a personal Mt. Rushmore–Putin, Kim Jong-Un, Qaddafi, Hussein. Kaine now slams Trump for his cavalier attitude re: nuclear proliferation. Pence wonders how long Kaine worked on that response.

9:44: Pence talks about the tragedy and heartbreak Americans have faced because of illegal immigrant crime as Quijano keeps focusing on illegal immigrants who have not committed crimes instead of the horrific and preventable crimes that have been committed by illegal immigrants. Framing is everything. She could have easily pressed Kaine to defend open-borders policies that allowed people like Kate Steinle and Jamiel Shaw to be murdered. But, as is the case with mainstream press, she is instead pressing Pence to defend deporting illegal immigrants who have not committed crimes. Kaine says he can’t imagine how Pence can defend Trump’s comments about Judge Curiel.

9:43: Pence says Kaine/Clinton have a plan for “amnesty” and “open borders.” He says the last thing Kaine mentioned was border security and points out that a nation without borders is not a nation.

9:41: Kaine says he and Clinton believe in “comprehensive immigration reform” (code word for massive amnesty) while Trump believes in deportations  (“deportation nation”). He says Trump wants to go house to house and business to business and kick out 16 million people (wasn’t the number supposedly 13 million? Now it’s 16 million?)

9:38: Debate now turns to immigration. Quijano asks what they would tell illegal immigrants who have not committed crimes. Pence says Clinton and Kaine want to continue the policies of open borders, amnesty, sanctuary cities and catch and release that are driving wages down. Pence says Trump has an immigration plan that will “deal systematically with illegal immigration” that will deal with border security. Pence says the ICE Union endorsed Trump, marking the group’s first ever presidential endorsement. Pence again fires back at Kaine, pointing out that Clinton called half of Trump-Pence’s supporters “deplorables” and “irredeemable.” He says Trump’s comments are “small potatoes” compared to Clinton’s deplorables remark. Kaine says Clinton apologized while Trump never apologized for his remarks. Quijano stops Pence from interrupting when she continued to let Kaine interrupt over and over again.

9:34: Kaine says people shouldn’t be afraid to bring up bias in law enforcement officers. Pence mentions that when an African-American police officer is involved in a police shooting of an African-American man, why would Clinton use the incident to talk about implicit biases. Quijano brings up Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) experience about being stopped seven times by police officers and asks Pence what he would say to Scott. Pence says we should adopt board criminal justice reform and we have to do a better job recognizing an correcting errors in the system. But he says we should not have the reflex of assuming the worst in law enforcement after every tragedy. Pence says law enforcement is a force for good in the country. Quijano keeps pressing Pence on what he would tell Sen. Scott. Kaine jumps in and bring up Trump’s comments about women, Judge Curiel, and John McCain.

9:32: Trump weighs in:

9:31: Pence says his uncle was a cop and was his hero. He says police officers are the “best of us” because they put their lives on the line every single day. Pence says, at the risk of agreeing with Kaine, that community policing is a “great idea.” Pence says he and Trump will ensure that law and order is restored in the cities. Pence says law enforcement officers hear the “bad-mouthing” coming from people who seize upon tragedies to use a “broad bush” to accuse law enforcement officials of “institutional racism” and “implicit bias.” Pence says we have to stop seizing on these moments of tragedy to demean law enforcement broadly.

[Clinton said we all have biases during last week’s debate when asked about policing.]

9:30: Debate now turns to race relations and policing. Candidates are asked if we put too much on the shoulders of police officers. Kaine speaks about the need for “community policing” and slams Trump’s support of “stop and frisk.” Kaine then pushes gun control and says he has a lot of “scar tissue” before mentioning the Virginia Tech massacre that occurred while he was governor.

9:27: Pence says he and Trump will meet the obligations of Social Security and Medicare and accuses Kaine of engaging in “scare tactics” on the subject.

9:21: Quijano asks Pence if it is fair that Trump may not have paid federal income taxes. Pence says Kaine and Clinton want more taxes and regulation and if voters think more of that is working, then they should vote for Democrats. Pence says Kaine can spin the numbers but people in towns like Scranton “know different.” When pressed about Trump’s taxes, Pence says Trump is a businessman and not a career politician. Pence says Trump faced some tough times–like the New York Times–and he used the tax code just the way it was supposed to be used. Pence says Trump has created tens of thousands of jobs and has paid payroll taxes, property taxes, etc. Kaine says Trump has broken his first promise by not releasing his taxes. Kaine says Pence gave Trump his tax returns and Trump must give Americans his tax returns to prove that he is qualified. Quijano says viewers at home cannot understand anything when they speak over each other… but it’s mostly Kaine who is interrupting over and over again.

9:19: Kaine says voters need to decide if they want a “you’re hired” president in Clinton or “you’re fired” president in Donald Trump. Kaine claims Trump and Pence want to eliminate the federal minimum wage. Kaine claims Trump and Pence will put the economy back into a recession with their plan. Kaine says if Trump released his tax returns, Americans would see how much his economic plan is a “Trump-first plan.”

[Not really a good case here because Trump wants to fire the bureaucrats and the trade deals that Clinton has supported has led to many Americans in manufacturing towns losing their jobs.]

9:16: Candidates now asked about the economy. They are asked if they are concerned that adding more to the debt will be disastrous of the country. Pence says the debt has doubled under the Obama administration. He touts Indiana’s fiscal responsibility under his leadership. He points out that Kaine left Virginia $2 billion in debt and tried to massively raise taxes. Pence says Kaine is a “fitting running mate for Hillary Clinton” because in a season where Americans are struggling under the Obama administration, Clinton and Kaine just want more of the same and are advocating a $1 trillion increase in taxes. Pence now points out that even President Clinton has called Obamacare a “crazy plan.” Pence talks about trade deals that will put American workers first, which will help the economy grow again.

9:15: Kaine’s the one interrupting and frustrating viewers:

9:14: Kaine says Pence is Trump’s “Apprentice” and keeps interrupting Pence. Pence says Americans distrust Clinton because they are paying attention. Pence is slamming Clinton on the Clinton Foundation scandals and her email server. Kaine raises his eyebrow and annoyingly keeps interrupting. Not coming across well. Seems too eager to interrupt Pence every time Pence speaks. Kaine knows that talking about Clinton’s honesty and foreign policy is bad for their campaign:

 

9:12: Pence is asked why voters do not think Trump has the temperament to be president. Pence first mention that the Middle East is spinning out of control because of Clinton’s foreign policy.

Pence says Trump has built a business through hard times and good times. Kaine keeps interjecting, talking about how Trump loves Russia and mentioning that Trump didn’t pay taxes.

9:10: Kaine is asked why voters distrust Clinton and why he trusts her. She mentions Clinton’s email scandal and the Clinton Foundation. Repeating lines from his announcement speech, Kaine talks about Clinton having a passion about something before they went into public service. He then pivots to attacking Trump about his comments about “Mexican immigrants.” He spends more time attacking Trump than defending Clinton’s honesty.

9:08: Pence says America has weakened in the last seven years. He cites the war on coal and failed health care reform. Pence says he wants to thank Trump for making the call and inviting him to be on the ticket. Pence says he grew up in a small town in a town not dissimilar from Farmville. Pence says if the responsibility ever fell to him, he would meet it with the responsibility should he be elected vice president. Pence says he has a lifetime of experience of growing up in a small town, serving in Congress, and leading Indiana. He says he would pray that he would be able to meet the challenge with the lifetime of experience .

9:06: The first topic is “presidential leadership.” Both are asked why they are equipped to take over the presidency should a tragedy happen. Kaine talks about the civil rights history of Farmville. He says he’s proud to be running with a “history-making woman” in Hillary Clinton. He’s repeating campaign talking points and says Clinton asked him to be her running mate because the test is whether to make people’s lives better. He says Clinton cited his extensive lifelong career in the government and Kaine says that’s what he brings to the ticket. He says his primary role is to be Clinton’s right hand man. Kaine says he trusts Clinton to be commander-in-chief but the thought of Trump as Commander-in-Chief scares him to death. Kaine keeps saying “trust.”

9:05: Messrs. Pence and Kaine take their seats, and the debate is about to begin.

9:03:

9:01: He’s ready:

8:57:

8:55:

8:50: CBS’s Elaine Quijano takes her seat as the debate is about to begin. The two candidates will be seated at a table, which will make it a bit more difficult to land attacks.

8:45: Trump blasts CNN.

8:35: Debate Commission officials now addressing the audience. They tell the audience that the debate will be divided into 9 segments. Each will last 10 minutes. They also ask for no “hooting’ and hollerin'” during he debate.

8:25: Pence arrives:

7:50: Jesse Jackson in Farmville:

7:35:

7:22:

7:18: Team of Grifters. They’ve also spent most of their live benefiting from the political system. Trump could have informed a record debate audience of this last week and reminded them that Clinton called working-class Americans who support Trump “deplorables.” Unfortunately, he dropped the ball.

7:12: Very low bar.

7:11:

 

7:09: No live-Tweeting from Hillary Clinton:

7:05: Trump in Vegas:

7:00: More ads from Dems. targeting Gary Johnson to help Clinton:

6:55: He has more bad things to say about Trump than good things to say about Clinton.

6:45:

https://twitter.com/TrumpPenceIND/status/783436673313021952

6:40: All of the data in the world will not matter if Sanders’s supporters are not inspired by Clinton.

6:34: Republican Party of Virginia organizing for Trump.

https://twitter.com/realAndrewH3/status/783428600204754944

 

6:23: NOT similar at all. Michelle Obama said she was proud of the country for the first time in her adult life. Good grief.

6:17: No star power tonight. But Pence still has a huge opportunity to make the case against Clinton. But Trump’s performance last week was more disappointing because all eyes were on the debate and Trump had a chance to inform voters who were starting to pay attention to the election about the Clinton Foundation scandals, Clinton’s dishonestly, Clinton’s failures re: Benghazi. He never told voters that Clinton favors admitting more Syrian refugees who cannot be properly vetted.

He also never bothered to, before a record audience, make the case that he is for Americanism while Clinton is for the globalists. He never bothered to bring up illegal immigration or point out that Clinton endangered the country’s national security with her private email server. Pence can hammer those points tonight, but there will not be as nearly as many people who will be watching tonight’s debate.

 

 

6:10: Trump will be live-Tweeting the debate. He should take some lessons from Minnesota Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes about not taking the bait. After the Vikings defeated the New York Giants last night, ESPN hosts tried to get Rhodes to speak badly about Odell Beckham Jr. and potentially give Houston wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (next week’s opponent) some bulletin board material. Rhodes handled the interview smoothly like a professional, not taking the bait like an amateur. Here’s hoping Trump has learned not to be so easily baited like Beckham Jr. He owes that to his supporters.

6:08:

 

6:05: Memo to Trump and his campaign team: It’s on the candidate to not say things in a way that will allow the media/Clinton campaign to spin those comments against him. Stop running as if the mainstream media are on your side.

6:00: Hillary Clinton faced the press and reporters again set her up with mostly favorable questions. She was asked about a Republican who attended her rally today, which gave Clinton another opportunity to repeat her talking points about appealing to Republicans (how convenient). She was asked about Tim Kaine, and she said she was “confident and excited” about tonight’s debate. She said Pence has a “huge burden” because he has to defend his record and Donald Trump. When asked about whether she wanted to drone Julian Assange, Clinton lawyerly and unconvincingly claimed, “I don’t recall any joke.” And she insisted that had she made a joke about droning Assange, that “it would have been a joke.” No follow-up questions on the matter.

5:55: At his Arizona rally, Trump, seizing on Bill Clinton’s comments about Obamacare, said Bill Clinton must have “went through hell last night.”

“Can you imagine what he went through after he made that statement?” Trump said. He then added, “there have been many nights when he’s gone through hell with Hillary, in all fairness.”

There have been many nights when he’s gone through hell with Hillary, in all fairness.