What Went Down At The Vice Presidential Debate

Pence has faced a lot of hypocrisy charges for agreeing to join Trump’s ticket after calling his proposed ban on Muslim immigration “offensive and unconstitutional” in a December 2015 tweet. But just as Trump hasn’t explicitly walked back a religious-based ban, Pence hasn’t explicitly endorsed one either. This is a distinction that some members of the press haven’t made clear. In July, Politico wrote that Pence “expressed strong support for the real estate mogul’s plan to bar Muslim migration to the U.S,” but in the next paragraph the article seemed to contradict itself by explaining Pence tried to reframe it as a ban on immigration “from countries where terrorist influence and impact represents a threat to the United States.” It’s another example of Pence trying to draw Trump away from the fringes and closer to the Republican mainstream. Whether Pence’s input would matter much to Trump if they win is another question.