Even before Wednesday night’s slow-boil of a vice presidential debate in Salt Lake City, the re-election bid of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence was in trouble with the one demographic on which elections hinge: women.
Then, with condescension and contempt, Pence sat with Sen. Kamala Harris of California, the first woman of color to be on a major presidential ticket, and lectured and side-stepped. When moderator Susan Page of USA Today declared that the debate would be civil, Pence visibly smirked. He knew better.
“Sen. Harris, it’s a privilege to be on this stage with you,” Pence said as the evening started. He later praised her history-making candidacy and thanked her for her public service. It was a veneer of respect that he didn’t necessarily practice during the debate. Repeatedly, he refused to heed time limits or even answer the question being asked. (To be sure, dodging