Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:17 pm
Donald Trump is already busily laying the excuse-making groundwork for his objections to last night’s VP debate. Having earlier claimed victory for his running mate, he was quick to add this morning,
The constant interruptions last night by Tim Kaine should not have been allowed. Mike Pence won big!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2016
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Trump, of course, repeatedly interrupted Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate. By Vox’s count, Trump interrupted her 51 times, including 25 times in 26 minutes (USAToday puts that figure at 22). Time put Trump’s interruptions at 55.
There is no doubt that last night’s debate was interrupted by…interruptions, and CBS News engaged in a count to determine to greatest offender.
According to CBS News, Kaine interrupted Pence 60 times, and Pence interrupted Kaine 37 times. ABC News made the final Kaine tally 70. Breitbart claimed 57 interruptions for Kaine.
FiveThirtyEight issued the following verdict:
Kaine interrupted far more than Pence. #VPDebate https://t.co/uKD8b6oUNz pic.twitter.com/ya5T6l9qkj
— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) October 5, 2016
According to Kellyanne Conway, who claims Kaine was guilty of 72 interruptions, Kaine’s interruptions signal that he is “unhinged.†She would not say the same of her own candidate, of course.
If Kaine interrupted Pence, so did Trump interrupt Clinton. The Trump campaign has no high ground upon which to stand when it begins issuing complaints about the behavior of others.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
