Donald Trump and his campaign team are touting a Mike Pence victory from Tuesday’s vice presidential debate, and his surrogates are hitting the morning media rounds to boast. But all may not be well at Trump Tower. There were reports that Trump was feeling miffed by Mike Pence, who some agreed came out on top during the debate and upstaged him during the event. But Kellyanne Conway was quick to dismiss those notions.
Pence’s performance during the vice presidential debate on Tuesday was the polar opposite of Trump’s. The Indiana governor looked calm and collected during the proceedings and didn’t shout or name call when his opponent was getting the upper hand. But reports of an upstaging could be overblown. As Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, these reports were simply not true:
“His last tweet last night was how excited he was, how proud of him he was. They talked last night. I talked to Mr. Trump during the debate several times. I think the one thing to remember is that, as Ronald Reagan always said, personnel is policy. And Donald Trump has promised as president to surround himself with the best people. You saw last night who the best people are.”
Conway went on to say that Pence’s performance during the debate garnered a victory for himself and the campaign:
“The way you know Governor Pence won the debate would be one of two reasons. You either watched it or you’re listening to everybody last night and this morning, Joe, say, ‘You know, these vice presidential debates don’t really matter. Not going to move the needle.’ That’s exactly how you know Mike Pence won.”
That seems to be a bit of a backhanded compliment from Conway, but who knew that a debate between two uncontroversial candidates could lead to so much fuss?
(Via MSNBC’s Morning Joe & Politico)
