Analyzing the impact of Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate, on Wednesday’s NBC Today, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd acknowledged that Indiana Governor Mike Pence did well, but assured his liberal media colleagues that Donald Trump’s campaign would lose the post-debate “spin” in the press.
Co-host Savannah Guthrie began the exchange by wondering: “...what’s the headline from this VP debate? What are we going to take away?” Todd declared: “I think long-term we’ll take away about how Mike Pence did Mike Pence a lot of good. And I think the questions are gonna be, did he, while he gave the Trump campaign a positive headline after eight days of a debacle, did he do enough to defend Trump?”
Fellow co-host Matt Lauer fretted that Pence wasn’t challenged on his defense of Trump: “Tim Kaine went after him on taxes, on temperament, on some of the insulting comments Trump has made about different groups over the last year or so, and at one point, Mike Pence simply denied that he had made those comments even though they exist on tape.”
Todd argued there was no need to worry: “I think this is where it was Pence won the 90 minutes and didn't engage in the back and forth, but in the way the Clinton campaign is gonna be able to say, “Well, wait a minute, he said this, but you were wrong, Trump did say ‘X’ and Trump did say ‘Y.’”
Lauer replied: “But that’s all after the moment.” Todd predicted: “It's all after the moment but who's watching and who wins the post-spin on a VP debate actually could matter.”
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Unlike Todd’s attempt to excuse Kaine’s poor performance, political analyst Nicolle Wallace hammered Hillary Clinton’s running mate:
I mean, he steam-rolled over a female moderator, which is tricky and usually doesn't go over well among any viewer. I think the word I used last night at 11:00 on little sleep was a “twit.” I mean, I think he acted very unlikable....So for Kaine to have squandered the opportunity to sort further Hillary Clinton’s cause and spend the whole time interrupting, filibustering, and speaking over the moderator was sort of a mind-boggling strategic decision.
Here is a full transcript of the October 5 segment:
7:11 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Let's turn to Chuck Todd and Nicolle Wallace, good morning. Last night, Chuck, you were asked, “What are we going to be talking about tomorrow morning?” You said, “The next debate on Sunday night.” But seriously, let’s –
CHUCK TODD: I left out Matthew, and that I am serious about that.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Running Mate Roundup; Did Mike Pence or Tim Kaine Help or Hurt Tickets?]
GUTHRIE: This storm, absolutely. But seriously, what’s the headline from this VP debate? What are we going to take away?
TODD: I think long-term we’ll take away about how Mike Pence did Mike Pence a lot of good. And I think the questions are gonna be, did he, while he gave the Trump campaign a positive headline after eight days of a debacle, did he do enough to defend Trump? Are we talking – or are going to be talking about too many areas where the two of them actually disagreed.
LAUER: Actually, on that point, you know, Tim Kaine went after him on taxes, on temperament, on some of the insulting comments Trump has made about different groups over the last year or so, and at one point, Mike Pence simply denied that he had made those comments even though they exist on tape. What's that strategy?
TODD: I think this is where it was Pence won the 90 minutes and didn't engage in the back and forth, but in the way the Clinton campaign is gonna be able to say, “Well, wait a minute, he said this, but you were wrong, Trump did say ‘X’ and Trump did say ‘Y.’
LAUER: But that’s all after the moment.
TODD: It's all after the moment but who's watching and who wins the post-spin on a VP debate actually could matter.
GUTHRIE: As ever, it's always a question of not just substance, but style. And Tim Kaine did take a lot of criticism for his style, being overly amped up, aggressive, interrupting too much. Do you think that will matter?
NICOLLE WALLACE: Well, if you were watching, it matters. I mean, he steam-rolled over a female moderator, which is tricky and usually doesn't go over well among any viewer. I think the word I used last night at 11:00 on little sleep was a “twit.” I mean, I think he acted very unlikable and he was picked to sort of address some of her diplomacy issues, if you will, with the electorate, with parts of the electorate where she's week. I don't think he was a very good ambassador for her last night. And when you're up six, you don't have to deliver the kind of performance that he delivered last night.
LAUER: There's another aspect of this, and in addition to attacking the top of the other ticket and going on the offensive, did either of them present themselves as ready to be commander-in-chief should that situation occur? Did they seem presidential?
WALLACE: You know what’s funny about that question is that I think there were people in both parties that would have preferred to have seen either man at the top of the ticket. You know, they both passed that test, they both passed that test when they took a seat at the table. Which is what makes Kaine's performance all the more inexplicable. I mean, Trump is already on the defensive because of his own poor performance in his own debate. So for Kaine to have squandered the opportunity to sort further Hillary Clinton’s cause and spend the whole time interrupting, filibustering, and speaking over the moderator was sort of a mind-boggling strategic decision.
GUTHRIE: Real quickly, perhaps it won’t change the outcome of the actual election, but did Pence manage to swing the momentum back in Trump's favor?
TODD: I don’t know, I think it – I think a lot matters on whether they could have done something today. I think part of it is I don't think they get much out of this debate after really this morning, to be honest.
GUTHRIE: Alright, Chuck and Nicolle, go get some rest, as always. Thank you.
