Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence said America is less safe today than before Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state. His Democratic opponent, Tim Kaine, said the thought of Donald Trump as commander in chief scares him to death.
Kaine and his wife “have a son deployed overseas in the Marine Corps right now,” the Virginia senator said in the opening moments of the event in his home state. “We trust Hillary Clinton as president and commander in chief, but the thought of Donald Trump as commander in chief scares us to death.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Much as Clinton has in campaign stops, he accused Trump of backing careless policies when it comes to nuclear weapons and naive strategies for dealing with foreign strongmen like Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Throughout the evening, Kaine also attacked Trump for his evasiveness in releasing his financial records, accusing him of shortchanging troops and veterans as a consequence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pence, the governor of Indiana, responded by referencing Clinton\u2019s improper handling of sensitive emails during her time as secretary of State and repeating Trump\u2019s accusations that Clinton\u2019s mistakes lead to the Islamic State group’s rise in the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The primary threat today is ISIS,” Pence said. “Because Hillary Clinton failed to renegotiate a forces agreement that would have allowed some American combat troops to remain in Iraq and secure the hard-fought gains that the American soldier has won, ISIS was able to be literally conjured up out of the desert, and it has overrun vast areas.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Pence called Clinton the more dangerous choice, saying that while Trump is an unpolished politician, Clinton is a dangerous career bureaucrat. He reiterated Trump\u2019s promise to rebuild the military, citing concerns from Pentagon leaders about the dwindling size of the naval fleet and Army manpower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kaine called those plans unrealistic and disingenuous. He said Clinton will sustain national security through alliance building and responsible spending, quipping that “Donald Trump can\u2019t start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot,” a reference to Trump’s public feud<\/a>with past pageant winner Alicia Machado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At another point, Kaine called Trump a “fool” who could lead the country into nuclear war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first presidential debate last month was marked by numerous interruptions by Trump and Clinton, but the vice presidential event was perhaps more contentious, with long sections of crosstalk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kaine frequently accused his opponent of running from Trump\u2019s comments and record. Pence responded by accusing his rival of fabricating insults and running a smear campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moderator Elaine Quijano, a CBS news correspondent, appeared frustrated at several moments, asking both men to stay on topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n