The credits have rolled on the 2016 vice presidential debate between Republican nominee Mike Pence and Democratic nominee Tim Kaine, bringing an end to the live televised event on Tuesday, October 4, that went mostly as expected. Pence, a seasoned politician, kept his cool as Kaine repeatedly demanded that he defend Donald Trump‘s more provocative statements — and Kaine, for his part, was so on-message for Hillary Clinton that he tried to intrude more than once on his opponent’s talking time. (Check out our complete by-the-minute recap here!)
But if you missed this 90-minute chat on topics ranging from international policy to personal faith, we’ve got your highlights reel right here. These might not have been the most politically substantial moments from the VP debate, but they’re the ones people will be talking about on Wednesday.
Moment No. 5: The man-terrupting championship
Let’s pour one out for poor Elaine Quijano, the moderator who did her darnedest to wrangle her interviewees back in line, while they basically pretended she didn’t exist. Bonus extra credit for conversational derailment goes to Tim Kaine, who responded to her attempt to bring him back on topic with a plaintive, “This is important, Elaine!”
Moment No. 4: Kaine-terrupting
In fact, Kaine not only gets extra credit for his interruptions — he gets his own entry. Immediately following the debate, a consensus emerged that Pence had probably won it — not on substance, but on style, thanks to Kaine’s compulsive habit of talking over his opponent’s responses. Prediction: Donald Trump will tweet something nasty about Kaine in 3 … 2 …
Moment No. 3: Trump weighs in.
Oh, never mind: He already did. In a debate that was relatively free of colorful highlights when the candidates weren’t talking over each other, Donald Trump’s quoted tweet comparing Tim Kaine to a Batman villain was one of the evening’s more interesting moments.
“@Jnelson52722: @realDonaldTrump @Susiesentinel Kaine looks like an evil crook out of the Batman movies”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2016
(Although personally, we think Kaine’s true doppelgänger is one of the friendly aliens from Galaxy Quest.)
Moment No. 2: Kaine scores a zinger.
It was obviously a prepared line, but it landed with the intended impact. Going after the opposition’s anti-terrorism capabilities, Kaine quipped, “Donald Trump can’t start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot.”
Moment No. 1: Excuse me while I whip this out.
And finally, the biggest eyebrow-raiser of the night came when Mike Pence got fed up with Tim Kaine’s repeated references to Donald Trump’s comments about Mexican immigrants, and snapped, “Senator, you’ve whipped out that Mexican thing again.”
Gentlemen, please. This is live prime-time television. Nobody should be whipping out things tonight, OK? We’re not savages here, for Pete’s sake.
Tell Us: Who did you think won the debate?
