7 Biggest Moments From the Vice Presidential Debate

PNUT POLL: 40 percent of our readers thought Tim Kaine won the debate. So what did the other 60 percent think? 

We watched the Vice Presidential Debate on Tuesday night so you didn’t have to. 

TL;DR

Kaine is very awkwardly saying things that are true.

Pence is very crisply saying things, and he doesn’t care if they are true or not.

— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) October 5, 2016

1. The debate was over before it started

The GOP accidentally published a post saying that Mike Pence had won. “The consensus was clear after the dust settled, Mike Pence was the clear winner of the debate,” the post said. It was taken down by the start of the debate.

2. Tim Kaine had some zingers prepared

Some of Tim Kaine’s favorite lines included: “You are Donald Trump’s Apprentice” and “Do you want a ‘you’re hired’ president, or a ‘you’re fired’ president?”

But Mike Pence called out his “pre-done” lines, even though Mike Pence stole one of Kaine’s lines, “insult-driven campaign” and used it multiple times himself. Pence got so fed up with Kaine’s repetition of Trump’s claim that Mexican immigrants are rapists that he said this:

3. Nobody could pay attention to the debate because Donald Trump was live-tweeting

Unfortunately, like the rest of the debate, his tweets weren’t that interesting. 

.@mike_pence is doing a great job – so far, no contest!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2016

4. Donald Trump’s taxes came up

Kaine said that Trump broke his promise to release his tax returns and Pence responded that Trump would release them when the audit is over. 

PNUTTY VIDEO: Seth Meyers on Trump’s Taxes.

5. Finally, a serious Aleppo moment

After weeks of humorous “Aleppo moments,” the vice presidential debate addressed what’s actually going on in Aleppo.

“I truly do believe that what america ought to do is immediately establish safe zones,” said Pence. “I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength…the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime.”

Kaine agreed about creating humanitarian zones, but criticized Trump’s relationship with Russia.

6. Russia! Russia! Russia!

There was a long back-and-forth about the United States’ relationship with Russia, but Kaine and Pence kept reiterating the same points.

Kaine criticized Trump for saying that Putin is a better leader than Obama, which Pence tried to deny even though Trump definitely said it. Pence called Clinton’s “Russian reset” a failure. When asked why Putin will respect a Trump-Pence administration, Pence said: “Strength. Plain and simple.”

7. The debate ended with an important social issue: abortion

“Why doesn’t Donald Trump trust women to make this choice for themselves?”

Tim Kaine slams Trump on abortion policy https://t.co/l5buLVFqIy

— Fusion (@Fusion) October 5, 2016

Mike Pence: “If you’re going to be pro-life, you should be pro-adoption.” #VPDebate https://t.co/WoFtnjP5Xt pic.twitter.com/z8gNdKxz2F

— New York Times Video (@nytvideo) October 5, 2016

When it was over, everyone regretted watching it:

I hate this debate.

— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) October 5, 2016

I’m glad there’s only one #VPDebate …

— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) October 5, 2016