Tim Kaine or Mike Pence: Who interrupted the most?

Moderator Elaine Quijano asks the VP candidates to stop interrupting each other

NEW YORK  Perhaps even more so than issues, the Vice Presidential debate between Sen. Tim Kaine and Gov. Mike Pence on Tuesday night was marked by interruptions. In fact, there were so many interruptions -- on both sides -- that CBSN’s Elaine Quijano, the debate’s moderator, was forced to intervene on a number of occasions. 

2016 Vice Presidential Debate Part 4: Social Security

When the candidates sparred over Donald Trump’s tax returns, for example, the back-and-forth grew so unruly that it became difficult for viewers to understand what either nominee was saying.

“Donald Trump has filed more than a 100 pages in financial disclosures, which is what the law requires,” Pence said.

“But he said he would release his tax returns,” Kaine quickly shot back 

“Gentlemen, I need to ask you about Social Security,” Elaine Quijano interjected. 

“Richard Nixon released his taxes while being audited,” Kaine continues as Pence objected in the background and Quijano tried to moderate the debate. 

Moderator Elaine Quijano asks the VP candidates to stop interrupting each other

“Gentlemen, the people at home cannot understand either one of you when you speak over each other,” Quijano insisted.

Unfortunately, that fiery exchange was far from an isolated incident. So, perhaps it’s no surprise that the conversation on social media was dominated by comments about debate decorum and whether the candidates each truly got their fair share of time once all of the interruptions were taken into account. 

That makes the operative question: Who interrupted who more?

To determine that, CBS News went back through each section of the Vice Presidential debate and conducted an informal count of every time a candidate interrupted his opponent during his two minutes to respond to a question. Here are the results:

Part 1 (Opening statements): 0 Kaine, 0 Pence

Part 2 (Trustworthiness): 6 Kaine, 4 Pence

Part 3 (National debt and Trump’s taxes): 7 Kaine, 5 Pence

Part 4 (Social Security): 2 Kaine, 0 Pence

Part 5 (Law enforcement): 4 Kaine, 2 Pence

Part 6 (Immigration): 5 Kaine, 2 Pence

Part 7 (Terrorism ): 9 Kaine, 6 Pence

Part 8 (Syria): 3 Kaine, 4 Pence

Part 9 (Russia): 12 Kaine, 10 Pence

Part 10 (North Korea): 5 Kaine, 1 Pence

Part 11 (Abortion, social issues): 7 Kaine, 3 Pence

Part 12 (Closing statements): 0 Kaine, 0 Pence

Totals: 60 Kaine, 37 Pence

Trump campaign manager weighs in on VP debate

When the tallies are all added up, the numbers show that Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine spoke out of turn nearly twice as many times as his opponent. And Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was quick to point out this discrepancy, slamming Tim Kaine for his interruptions in post-debate interviews by calling his demeanor “unhinged” and “unfortunate.” 

Clinton spokeswoman Karen Finney told the AP that Kaine’s job was to “stand up for” his running mate at the only vice presidential debate. She said she thought Kaine’s style “got under Gov. Pence’s skin.”

As far as debate decorum is concerned, however, these sorts of interruptions may have become more the norm than the exception. So, the “unhinged” and “unfortunate” party may be the American political system as a whole, not one of its players.

And now it’s on to Sunday, where Clinton and Trump will spar anew in St. Louis.

CBS News’ Caroline Linton, Jareen Imam, Jennifer Earl, Shayna Freisleban and Emily Katz contributed to this report.  

f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.