In Trump/Pence Interview, a 'Bizarre' Iraq War Moment

Inside the GOP ticket's '60 Minutes' interview
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 18, 2016 5:03 AM CDT

The Internet has moved on from the Donald Trump/Mike Pence logo jokes and started picking away at another Trump/Pence moment: the candidates' first joint interview, which aired Sunday night on 60 Minutes. The Guardian notes Trump had the reins, speaking more than double the roughly 50 times Pence did over the course of 21 minutes—and interrupting him plenty, which didn't go unnoticed on social media. What's being said:

  • At the Guardian, Bonnie Malkin flags "one of the more bizarre parts of the interview": When Lesley Stahl pointed out Pence voted for the Iraq War. "I don't care," said Trump. Stahl pushed Trump on the point, and he said Pence is "entitled to mistake every once in a while." But as for Hillary Clinton, who voted the same, "she's not."
  • Candace Smith of ABC News saw Pence as seeming "to preview his own role as a Trump-interpreter of sorts—a measured, experienced politician who can frame Trump's more controversial views and mold them to be more palatable for a wary audience." She provides an example: Trump went after NAFTA, which Pence is in favor of. Pence stepped in: "What I hear Donald Trump saying is let's ... look at these trade agreements and reconsider them and renegotiate them."

  • Jenna Johnson analyzes Trump's habit of interrupting in a Washington Post piece that outlines four times Trump jumped in to finish a sentence for Pence. In one instance, Trump described how the two have "very, very good chemistry."
  • "In the interview, it was clear that the two have big differences in policy, but Pence was more willing to paper over them," observes Pamela Kruger at Fortune. One example: Pence previously called Trump's proposed temporary Muslim immigration ban "offensive," but took a supportive stance in the interview.
  • At Politico, Matthew Nussbaum cites that very exchange as an example of how Pence "demonstrated a willingness to massage past positions so that they better conform with Trump's."
(More Mike Pence stories.)

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