On Tuesday’s NBC Today, correspondent Peter Alexander provided viewers with a timeline of vice presidential debates over the years. However, the one-sided segment repeatedly portrayed Democratic running mates as victors while dismissing the Republicans as sexist, bungling, or full of “malarkey.”
Alexander began the report: “Vice presidential debates are never as consequential as presidential ones, but they can still have an impact. Just consider how many of these moments still ring a bell.” He started the look back in 1984, when “George H.W. Bush took heat from Geraldine Ferraro, who slammed him for being condescending.” A soundbite played of Walter Mondale’s VP: “I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy.”
Moving from one failed Democratic presidential campaign to another, Alexander declared: “But that moment pales in comparison to what happened four years later, when Democrat Lloyd Benson [running mate of Michael Dukakis] tore into Dan Quayle after Quayle likened his own experience to John F. Kennedy.” A clip ran of Bentsen’s famous line: “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no jack Kennedy.”
On Monday, MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell also gleefully reminisced over the 1988 exchange, while ignoring the fact that Bentsen actually lied about being friends with Kennedy.
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During Alexander’s Tuesday piece, the reporter moved on to the 2008 campaign and touted Saturday Night Live’s take-down of Sarah Palin just “before the real Sarah Palin took on Joe Biden.” After footage played of Paling asking then-Senator Joe Biden if could she call him by his first name, Alexander explained: “Her strategy planned by the campaign after she repeatedly struggled to pronounce Biden's last name during debate prep.”
Wrapping up the segment, Alexander gushed: “And in 2012, Biden took on the role of attack dog....Trying to dismiss Paul Ryan with a smile.” A clip followed of Biden ranting that an answer from Mitt Romney’s running mate was “a bunch of malarkey.”
Somehow over the course of three decades of vice presidential debates, NBC could not find a single instance where the GOP candidate bested their Democratic rival.
Here is a full transcript of the October 4 segment:
7:36 AM ET
MATT LAUER: As we mentioned, Indiana Governor Mike Pence and Virginia Senator Tim Kaine will face off tonight in a vice presidential debate.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: So can we expect the kind of fireworks we saw in the first presidential showdown? NBC national correspondent Peter Alexander takes a closer look at that. Hi, Peter, good morning.
PETER ALEXANDER: Hey, Matt and Savannah, good morning to you. This, of course, is the first and only face-off for Tim Kaine and Mike Pence. The bottom line, according to our latest poll, nearly a third of voters don't know who either man is. Vice presidential debates are never as consequential as presidential ones, but they can still have an impact. Just consider how many of these moments still ring a bell.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: VP Picks in the Spotlight; How Running Mates’ Debate Performance Can Impact Campaigns]
With Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton still battling over their showdown, tonight their running mates could create some iconic moments of their own.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH [OCTOBER 11, 1984]: Let me help you with the difference, Miss Ferrero, between Iran and the embassy in Lebanon.
ALEXANDER: In 1984, George H.W. Bush took heat from Geraldine Ferraro, who slammed him for being condescending.
GERALDINE FERRARO: I almost resent, Vice President Bush, your patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy.
ALEXANDER: But that moment pales in comparison to what happened four years later, when Democrat Lloyd Benson tore into Dan Quayle after Quayle likened his own experience to John F. Kennedy.
LLOYD BENTSEN: Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no jack Kennedy.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
ALEXANDER: The devastating attack line may have hurt Quayle, but it wasn't enough to keep Bush from winning the White House. Still, moments like that could change how voters view the top of the ticket.
CHRIS CILLIZZA [WASHINGTON POST]: What it’s really about is, why did Donald Trump, why did Hillary Clinton, pick this person out of everyone that they had a choice of, and do you agree or disagree that, that was a good decision?
ALEXANDER: In 1992, Ross Perot came under scrutiny after his running mate, Admiral James Stockdale, seemed unprepared and out of his league.
JAMES STOCKDALE [OCTOBER 13, 1992]: Who am I? Why am I here?
ALEXANDER: His performance becoming an easy target for Saturday Night Live.
DANA CARVEY [AS ROSS PEROT]: They say you're a drag on the ticket. They must have been watching a different show. When you were quiet there for an hour, that was world class.
ALEXANDER: In 2008, SNL once again targeted the vice presidential nominees.
TINA FEY [AS SARAH PALIN]: And I can see Russia from my house.
ALEXANDER: That sketch coming before the real Sarah Palin took on Joe Biden, greeting her rival with a request.
SARAH PALIN [OCTOBER 2, 2008]: Nice to meet you. Hey, can I call you Joe?
ALEXANDER: Her strategy planned by the campaign after she repeatedly struggled to pronounce Biden's last name during debate prep. And in 2012, Biden took on the role of attack dog.
JOE BIDEN [OCTOBER 11, 2012]: This is a bunch of stuff. Look, here's the deal.
MARTHA RADDATZ: What does that mean, a bunch of stuff?
BIDEN: Well, it means it’s simply inaccurate.
RYAN: It’s Irish.
ALEXANDER: Trying to dismiss Paul Ryan with a smile.
BIDEN: With all due respect, that's a bunch of malarkey.
ALEXANDER: Famously Sarah Palin had been calling him Joe O'Biden in their practice sessions. Tonight both Tim Kaine and Mike Pence face unique challenges. Kaine to try to make up for one of Hillary Clinton's biggest vulnerabilities, the issue of trust. And Pence with his own tough task to fend off another round of criticism after Donald Trump's week-long streak of rough headlines over his taxes and his temperament. Matt and Savannah?
GUTHRIE: Alright, Peter Alexander, thanks. And one more reminder, you can watch the debate live, it’s tonight, 9 Eastern, right here on NBC.
