Both presidential candidates continue to argue that their respective vice presidential nominees had the better night last Tuesday, October 4th. Vice presidential candidates Mike Pence and Tim Kaine both tended to shy away from talking policy and instead focused on the presidential candidates in their first and only debate.
A CNN poll found only 42 percent of voters thought Democratic vice president nominee Tim Kaine had done the better job, while 48 percent were in favor of Pence. Kaine often interrupted Pence to attack Trump for either political or personal comments. Two-thirds of voters argued Pence had a better night than they expected.
Viewers seemed to be put off by Kaine’s handling of the debate, as unfavorability for the Democratic candidate rose from 28 percent before the debate to 40 percent after. Pence’s unfavorability stayed static at 40 percent, and his favorability rose from 50 percent to 57 percent.
In contrast, A CNN poll saw a five point lead by Clinton after the first presidential debate 50of voters, up from 46 percent last month, said they are extremely enthusiastic to vote for Clinton. Meanwhile, Trump’s backers saw a decline from 58 percent to 56 percent. Still, 29 percent of registered voters said that neither candidate is favorable.
Despite many criticizing Kaine’s overall performance, Clinton allegedly congratulated him and stands by the notion that he had the better night. According to one tweet from one of Clinton’s aides, Clinton called Kaine to congratulate him in a conversation “described as a love fest”.
Kaine has since criticized Pence for his performance. On CNN two days after the debate, Kaine told “New Day” host Alisyn Camerota “Again and again, he refused to defend Donald Trump…I think the folks watching it definitely understood that Gov. Pence wouldn’t defend his running mate.” He added that Trump’s reaction to the debate was rumored to be one of jealousy. One source, who claims to he is close to Trump, told CNN “The media is saying Pence won, but didn’t really defend Trump. That isn’t sitting well with the boss.”
Some political analysts pointed out that many of Pence’s opinions and statements made in the debate differed from that of Donald Trump. Pence denied the allegations and said Trump had called him after the debate to congratulate him. “What I can say is that, Donald Trump won the debate. Donald Trump’s vision to make America great again won the debate.”
Trump live tweeted during the debate, cheering on Pence and challenging Kaine’s statements. In one tweet, he alleged that the “constant interruptions last night by Tim Kaine should not have been allowed.” In another, he talked up Pence, tweeting “Mike Pence won big. We should all be proud of Mike!”
