Donald Trump and Mike Pence gave their first joint interview, and what went down on 60 Minutes was painful to watch.
Video:
Trump claimed that Hillary Clinton invented ISIS with her “stupid policies:”
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TRUMP on @60Minutes: "Hillary Clinton invented ISIS with her stupid policies." pic.twitter.com/rZUn8514Tz
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 17, 2016
Trump consistently interrupted Pence mostly to brag about himself:
Pence says Trump speaks from the heart. Trump interjects "I speak from my heart and my brain. Just so we understand" pic.twitter.com/8pHHG2VCaZ
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 17, 2016
Trump even told Pence what he could and couldn’t say:
Trump on @60Minutes: "hey, look, I like John McCain. But we have to take care of our vets." pic.twitter.com/0Gwt9GRh6n
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 17, 2016
Pence’s entire role on the ticket appears to be to filter the crazy out of what Donald Trump says in order to make is sound more conventionally Republican.
Donald Trump had a terrifying answer about what his plan to declare war on ISIS meant:
Full @60Minutes exchange with Trump/Pence about declaring war on ISIS: Trump says "few troops on the ground." pic.twitter.com/FTKAWk4ZlQ
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) July 17, 2016
The ISIS non-answer was typical for the entire interview, where Lesley Stahl did not get a single direct answer out of Trump or Pence.
Trump also repeated his lie about always opposing the Iraq war, and destroyed his own strategy of attacking Clinton for voting for the war:
About Pence's vote for Iraq War, Trump says "He's entitled to make a mistake every once in awhile" but Hillary isn't pic.twitter.com/yFCVeVv3Ky
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 17, 2016
The Republican nominee spent most of the interview talking about himself and even bragged about how humble he is:
Trump is humble. Trumpble. pic.twitter.com/XlthX4bVo8
— Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) July 18, 2016
The interview was a trainwreck tribute to the ego of Donald Trump, who made it clear that he was in charge and that the spotlight was always to be on him at all times.
If Republicans were looking for someone who could make Trump seem less crazy, Mike Pence is not the guy. If anything, Trump is becoming even more insane because now he is acting like Pence is competition, not a partner.
The lack of chemistry between Pence and Trump was obvious that one wonders if they had ever really spoken to each other before Pence was added to the ticket.
There probably isn’t going to be a VP bounce for Trump/Pence, in fact, this ticket looks doomed.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
