Senator Tim Kaine from the Democratic party and Republican Governor Mike Pence had a feisty exchange of words over their running mates' policies at the first and only vice presidential debate here as the two slammed each other with running a campaign filled with hatred.
The moderator, Elaine Quijano of CBS News, had to intervene from the very start of the debate last night, as the two vice presidential nominees interrupted each other at regular interval. In fact, at times Quijano had a tough time in controlling Kaine, 58, and Pence, 57.
"Let me say first and foremost that, Senator, you and Hillary Clinton would know a lot about an insult-driven campaign," Pence said, highlighting Clinton's relentless criticism of Trump. It is really remarkable, he added.
"At a time when literally, in the wake of Hillary Clinton's tenure as the secretary of state, where she was the architect of the Obama administration's foreign policy, we see entire portions of the world, particularly the wider Middle East, literally spinning out of control.
"I mean, the situation we're watching hour by hour in Syria today is the result of the failed foreign policy and the weak foreign policy that Hillary Clinton helped lead in this administration and create," said Pence.
"The newly emboldened - the aggression of Russia, whether it was in Ukraine or now they're heavy-handed approach...," said the calm and cool looking Indiana Governor as he was interrupted by Kaine, who appeared to be on the attack from the very first moment of the debate.
"You guys love Russia. You both have said...," Kaine interrupted as Pence tried to complete his sentence "...Their heavy-handed approach."
"You both have said -- you both have said Vladimir Putin is a better leader than the president," Kaine jumped again.
The debate was kicked off by Kaine as he responded to the first question.
While Democratic presidential nominee Clinton has dedicated her life for public service and for the betterment of the people of the country, her Republican rival Donald Trump has always put himself first, he said.
"Trump always puts himself first. He built a business career, in the words of one of his own campaign staffers, 'off the backs of the little guy'. And as a candidate, he started his campaign with a speech where he called Mexicans rapists and criminals, and he has pursued the discredited and really outrageous lie that President Obama wasn't born in the United States," he said.
"It is so painful to suggest that we go back to think about these days where an African-American could not be a citizen of the United States. And I can't imagine how Governor Pence can defend the insult-driven selfish 'me first' style of Donald Trump," Kaine, the senator from Virginia, alleged.
"The thought of Donald Trump as commander in chief scares us to death," he added.
Kaine also attacked Trump on his tax returns and the New York Times report according to which in 1995 he showed a massive business loss of nearly a USD 1 billion.
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"I am interested to hear whether he'll defend his running mate's not releasing taxes and not paying taxes," Kaine said.
"His tax returns showed he went through a very difficult time, but he used the tax code just the way it's supposed to be used. And he did it brilliantly," Pence said.
"How do you know that? You haven't seen his tax returns," Kaine asked interrupting his vice presidential rival.
"This is probably the difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and Senator Kaine. I mean, Hillary Clinton and Senator Kaine - God bless you for it, career public servants, that's great - Donald Trump is a businessman, not a career politician. He actually built a business," Pence said.
"Trump has brought an extraordinary business acumen. He's employed tens of thousands of people in the US," he said.
"Those tax returns that were - that came out publicly this week show that he faced some pretty tough times 20 years ago. But like virtually every other business, including the New York Times not too long ago, he used what's called net operating loss. We have a tax code, Senator, that actually is designed to encourage entrepreneurship in this country," he asserted. "He created a runway - because he's created a business that's worth billions of dollars today," Pence said.
"How do you know that?" Kaine asked.
Pence said Trump has not broken his promises.
"He (Trump) stood on the stage last week and when Hillary said, you haven't been paying taxes, he said, 'That makes me smart'. So it's smart not to pay for our military? It's smart not to pay for veterans? It's smart not to pay for teachers? And I guess all of us who do pay for those things, I guess we're stupid. And the last thing I'll say is this...," Kaine fired a series of questions for Pence.
"Senator, do you take all the deductions that you're entitled to?" the Governor asked.
Pence alleged that at a time of great challenge in the life of this nation, "where we've weakened America's place in the world, stifled America's economy," the campaign of Hillary Clinton and Kaine has been an avalanche of insults.
Under Clinton's leadership, Kaine claimed, she was part of the national team, public safety team that went after and revived the dormant hunt against bin Laden and wiped him off the face of the Earth.
"She worked to deal with the Russians to reduce their chemical weapons stockpile. She worked a tough negotiation with nations around the world to eliminate the Iranian nuclear weapons program without firing a shot," he asserted.
