During the US vice presidential debate on Tuesday night, Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine had America's political attention all to themselves, away from their much better known running mates. But both of them spent quite some time in bashing their rival parties' presidential candidates.
Also read: Missed the Kaine & Pence US Veep Debate? Here’s the Cheat Sheet
U.S. Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "small and bullying leader" on Tuesday and condemned his actions in Syria, taking a harder line than Donald Trump at a contentious debate with Democratic rival Tim Kaine.
The debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, was lively from the start. Kaine, the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, honed in on Trump's refusal to reveal his tax records, saying the businessman had broken a promise to do so.
Kaine kept throwing Trump’s controversial and incendiary remarks. On his part, Pence didn’t get rattled, and he didn’t make any unforced errors that would dominate the headlines the next day.
At one point, Kaine accused Trump of "shooting himself in the foot" by attacking a Latina former Miss Universe; claiming to know more than the generals about fighting ISIS; trash-talking Sen. John McCain's military service; supporting a "personal Mount Rushmore" of dictators and believing "the world will be safer if more nations have nuclear weapons."
Kaine drew Pence's ire by hearkening back to a remark from former Republican President Ronald Reagan that some fool or maniac with a nuclear weapon could trigger a catastrophic event.
"And I think that's who Governor Pence's running mate is," Kaine said.
Pence shot back: "Senator, senator, that was even beneath you and Hillary Clinton and that's pretty low."
Kaine repeatedly sought to persuade Pence to defend Trump's positions, but Pence steadfastly refused to take the bait.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj
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