Oct. 5, 2016 – Following last night’s Vice Presidential debate, Hillary for America is releasing a new video spotlighting Mike Pence’s inability (or unwillingness) to defend Donald Trump’s divisive insults and dangerous policies. From Trump’s praise of Vladimir Putin as a “strong” leader to his assertion that women should be “punished” for having an abortion to Trump’s immigration plan to deport 16 million people, Mike Pence couldn’t defend the man running at the top of his ticket.
Washington Post: Editorial Board: Mike Pence struggles to defend the indefensible: “Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate was more of a proxy war between this year’s presidential candidates than a contest about capabilities of the two men on stage. In that sense, it was an unfair fight: Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) had to defend the indefensible Donald Trump. To a large extent, he did so by conjuring a candidate who does not exist — a Reaganesque supporter of a muscular foreign policy, small government and traditional Christian values. It was as if he was defending the running mate he wished he had. To the extent that Mr. Pence succeeded Tuesday evening, it was in landing blows on Hillary Clinton while declining to defend Mr. Trump’s proposals and record.”
New Republic: Donald Trump Has Turned Mike Pence Into a Vice Liar: “But even though Pence delivered a polished performance, there was one striking similarity with Trump’s earlier debate performance: He told a lot of lies. That’s the position Trump has put him. To defend his party’s nominee, Pence must lie; but to defend his own honor, he must tell the truth—thereby betraying his party’s nominee.”
Chicago Tribune: Pence fights — and lies — to keep the stench of Trump off him: “Every time Donald Trump was criticized during Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, running mate Mike Pence had the perfect response: Who is this ‘Donald Trump’ of which you speak? It was as if Pence had never met the man on the top of the ticket and was unaware that we now have video and audio recording technology that can preserve the things people say. Asked by Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine to defend an array of Trump’s statements, Pence simply denied that those statements exist.
The Huffington Post: Mike Pence To America: Trump Never Said Those Things He Said: “Donald Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), spent much of the first and only vice presidential debateTuesday night doing his damnedest to get Americans to forget all of the offensive things Trump has said. Pence repeatedly tried to skirt around statements Trump actually said — or simply shook his head and ignored the question. ‘I’m happy to defend [Trump],’ Pence said. But Pence rarely actually defended Trump. Instead, he dodged or outright denied his running mate’s statements.”
Vox: 7 criticisms of Trump that Mike Pence refused to answer: “The big question going into the vice presidential debate was how Mike Pence, who is essentially a standard-issue Republican politician, would defend Donald Trump’s various insults, untruths, and bizarre moments. It turns out he just wouldn’t.”
Talking Points Memo: The Two Debates – And Trump Hung Out To Dry: “Pence’s reactions were fascinating. He sort of wearily shook his head in response. In other cases, he flatly denied things we all saw happen. He defended his boss, kinda. But he just didn’t seem to have his heart in it. To some degree, what could Pence say? He had a tough job in defending Trump on many of these points. But realizing how tough it would be he just didn’t try. For the aftermath of the debate, I think the key point will be that though Pence didn’t have his heart in it, Pence did deny numerous Kaine claims about Trump that are demonstrably true.”
Buzzfeed: Mike Pence Won The Debate For His Imaginary Running Mate, Mitt Romney: “Mike Pence is running for vice president on Donald Trump’s ticket. But his debate performance on Tuesday seemed to occur in a bizarre alternate universe where some normal establishment Republican is the nominee.”