In a hostile interview with Mike Pence on Thursday’s NBC Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie actually interrupted the exchange to play a 26-second clip of a Clinton campaign attack ad ripping the Indiana Governor’s vice presidential debate performance. She then demanded Pence respond to the partisan hit job.
While Guthrie noted that Pence was “getting a lot of credit” for his handling of the debate, she quickly added that “a lot of people have noticed that you spent time denying things that Trump said that he did, in fact, say.” The anchor then dutifully teed up the Clinton campaign’s smear: “As one paper put it, ‘It’s a Clinton attack ad waiting to happen.’ And sure enough, take a look.”
The portion of the ad that followed showed alleged contradictions between Pence’s statements in the debate with past statements from Donald Trump. Following the clip, Guthrie touted: “Governor Pence, that ad actually goes on for more than a minute with a bunch of contradictions.” She then threw him this loaded question: “...even though it worked in the moment, was it the wrong approach to deny statements that you know are on video and on audio, are going to come right back to bite you the next day?”
Pence pushed back: “Oh, I don't think so at all, Savannah. And the mischaracterizations and the way Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton continue to take Donald Trump's statements out of context was something I just wasn’t gonna tolerate during the debate.” Guthrie stopped him: “But those are direct quotes, in context.”
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After Guthrie’s interrogation, it was fellow co-host Matt Lauer’s turn to rip into the Republican vice presidential nominee:
Governor, on a couple of occasions – on a couple of occasions, Tim Kaine gave you a laundry list of insulting comments that Donald Trump has made over the course of the last year and asked you to defend them. And instead of defending them, you either said he really didn’t say those things or you changed the subject to Hillary Clinton. Do you find it hard – can you say to us today that you cannot defend some of the things that Donald Trump has said about women and Mexican immigrants and John McCain and a federal judge of Mexican heritage?
Pence called out the hypocrisy of Clinton’s running mate: “What I think what most Americans saw was that after Tim Kaine ran through a rapid, obviously memorized litany of personal insults, then he said that Donald Trump and I were running the insult-driven campaign. It was remarkable.”
Lauer promptly dismissed the observation: “Yeah, but you just – in all due respect, Governor, you just did it again.”
The contentious segment concluded with Guthrie trying to trip Pence up: “Short question, Governor Pence. Do you think that Donald Trump is a role model for children?” To her frustration, Pence diffused the attempted gotcha: “I frankly think Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have many admirable qualities that young people can look up to today.”
On Wednesday, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd appeared on the morning show and predicted that Pence would lose the post-debate “spin,” despite winning the debate itself.
After the first presidential debate, NBC and the other networks all lined up to hammer Pence over Trump’s performance.
Here is a full transcript of the October 6 interview:
7:42 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: We're back now at 7:42. We've got Donald Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence.
MATT LAUER: He is on the campaign trail this morning in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the heels of this week's vice presidential debate. Governor, good to see you, good morning.
MIKE PENCE: Good to see you, thank you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Mike Pence Speaks Out; VP Candidate on Defending Trump and Debates]
LAUER: So the pundits have had a couple of days now, or 36 hours, to digest your performance in the vice presidential debate and so has your running mate, Donald Trump. Who seems to be saying, you know, you did a great job, and he wants to take some of the credit for that because it shows he had great judgment in selecting you. Isn't that a little bit like Andrew Luck handing the ball to Frank Gore, watching him run 80 yards for a touchdown, and then saying, “Did you see that handoff”?
PENCE: Well, first, before I respond to that great question – great Colts reference, too, Matt, thanks – let me say, our hearts and our prayers are very much with the people of Florida and the people of Haiti as Hurricane Matthew approaches. I hope every American is keeping our neighbors to the south in their prayers and in their hearts and we certainly encourage people, encourage people to support relief efforts that will likely be – likely be challenged in the days ahead.
But with regard to that, I have to tell you, I – some people think that I won the debate the other night. I leave that to the pundits. But I honestly do believe that Donald Trump did win the debate. It was Donald Trump's vision that I was describing. It was Donald Trump's message to make America great again. And for me to be able to be there at that table, sharing that vision with the American people and sharing the choice that we face as Americans, was a great honor for me.
GUTHRIE: Governor, you are getting a lot of credit for your performance at that debate. But a lot of people have noticed that you spent time denying things that Trump said that he did, in fact, say. As one paper put it, “It’s a Clinton attack ad waiting to happen.” And sure enough, take a look.
[BEGINNING OF CLINTON AD]
TIM KAINE: Let's start with not praising Vladimir Putin as a great leader. Donald Trump and Mike pence have said he is a great leader.
MIKE PENCE: No, we haven't.
DONALD TRUMP: Putin's been a very strong leader for Russia.
PENCE: Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country.KAINE: More nations should get nuclear weapons? Try to defend that.
PENCE: He never said that.
TRUMP: Wouldn't you rather, in a certain sense, have Japan have nuclear weapons?
ANDERSON COOPER: Saudi Arabia, nuclear weapons?
TRUMP: Absolutely.
[END OF CLINTON AD, 26 SEC]
GUTHRIE: Governor Pence, that ad actually goes on for more than a minute with a bunch of contradictions. I guess the question is, even though it worked in the moment, was it the wrong approach to deny statements that you know are on video and on audio, are going to come right back to bite you the next day?
PENCE: Oh, I don't think so at all, Savannah. And the mischaracterizations and the way Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton continue to take Donald Trump's statements out of context was something I just wasn’t gonna tolerate during the debate.
GUTHRIE: But those are direct quotes, in context.
PENCE: Donald Trump and I have observed – Well, Tim Kaine actually said I had said that Vladimir Putin was a better leader.
GUTHRIE: You said “stronger.”
PENCE: I corrected him.
GUTHRIE: You said “stronger leader.”
PENCE: I said “stronger,” and Savannah, there's a difference. He was wrong, I was right. What I was observing is, quite frankly, that the Russian reset has been a disastrous failure for Hillary Clinton. She said it was her number one priority when she was Secretary of State, and now since the Russian reset, we’ve seen Vladimir Putin exercise the kind of strength on the world stage that’s resulted in a Russian invasion...
LAUER: But, Governor –
PENCE: ...in Ukraine and now the humanitarian crisis in Syria being driven by Russian aggression.
LAUER: Governor, on a couple –
PENCE: The expanded relationship that they have with Iran. I do think observing that the small and bullying leader of Russia has been stronger on the world stage for his country than Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is just simply a statement of fact and something that we have to change and will change when Donald Trump becomes president of the United States.
LAUER: Governor, on a couple of occasions – on a couple of occasions, Tim Kaine gave you a laundry list of insulting comments that Donald Trump has made over the course of the last year and asked you to defend them. And instead of defending them, you either said he really didn’t say those things or you changed the subject to Hillary Clinton. Do you find it hard – can you say to us today that you cannot defend some of the things that Donald Trump has said about women and Mexican immigrants and John McCain and a federal judge of Mexican heritage?
PENCE: Well, it's the greatest honor of my life to stand shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump. What I think what most Americans saw was that after Tim Kaine ran through a rapid, obviously memorized litany of personal insults, then he said that Donald Trump and I were running the insult-driven campaign. It was remarkable.
LAUER: Yeah, but you just – in all due respect, Governor, you just did it again.
PENCE: And I told him I’d be happy to go – I’d be happy to go line by line. Like him saying that Donald Trump said something about all Mexicans, when clearly a year and a half ago, Donald Trump was talking about the whole issue of criminal aliens in the country. He conveniently omitted that Donald Trump has said that even many of the people that come into this country illegally are good people, he left that out.
But look, this campaign has been focused on the issues of most importance to the American people. And I want to give the moderator a lot of credit in that debate. You know, you all have a tough job out there, and you all do it well. I thought Elaine did a good job keeping the debate focused on the big issues, which are national security, getting this economy moving again. And so, to be honest with you, I’m incredibly proud to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump. We’ll take on all those things. But I will point out to you that when I pointed out that Hillary Clinton had called half of Donald Trump and my supporters, a “basket of deplorables,” Tim Kaine didn’t say a word about that or defend that either. So, look –
GUTHRIE: He actually did. And he said that she had apologized the next day.
PENCE: I’m proud of the debate that we had. I thought it was a good, energetic debate and I hope the campaign is better for it.
GUTHRIE: Short question, Governor Pence. Do you think that Donald Trump is a role model for children?
PENCE: I frankly think Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have many admirable qualities that young people can look up to today. I think Donald Trump is a strong leader, he fights for what he believes in. He's a man who we learned 20 years ago went through a very difficult time in his business, he demonstrated the resilience and the smarts to marshal a real comeback. It’s the kind of comeback he can lead for America. And I want to recognize Hillary Clinton as the first woman to be a major party nominee in American history. And so, there are aspects of these people. You know, nobody’s perfect, I can only think of one person in human history that’s perfect, but I think there’s qualities in both of these people that young people can admire.
LAUER: To be continued.
GUTHRIE: Yeah, we got to let it go there, unfortunately. Governor Pence, thanks for taking time this morning, appreciate it.
LAUER: Good to see you.
PENCE: Thank you, good to be with you.
