Mike Pence and Tim Kaine spar over Clinton and Trump foundations at VP debate
Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) launched a broadside against the Clinton Foundation at Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, alleging that Bill and Hillary Clinton set up their charitable foundation to get around the ban on foreign contributions to U.S. political campaigns. "You asked the trustworthy question in the beginning," he told moderator Elaine Quijano. "The reason people don't trust Hillary Clinton is because they're looking at the pay-to-play politics that she operated at the Clinton Foundation, through a private server, while she's secretary of state, and they're saying enough is enough." Sen. Tim Kaine (D) was up for the challenge.
"I am glad to talk about the foundation," he said. "The Clinton Foundation is one of the highest-rated foundations in the world. It provides AIDS drugs to about 11 million people. It helps Americans deal with opioid overdoses. It gets higher rankings for its charity than the American Red Cross." The State Department did an investigation, he added, and found that Clinton had acted in all cases in the best interests of America. "So the foundation does good work, and Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, acted in the interests of the United States," Kaine said. He compared that to the Trump Organization, which he called "an octopus-like organization with tentacles all over the world whose conflicts of interest could only be known if Donald Trump would release his tax returns," and the Donald J. Trump Foundation, which was fined for contributing to a political campaign, apparently by mistake.
It was one of the calmer exchanges of the debate.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Is ChatGPT's new search engine OpenAI's Google 'killer'?
Talking Point There's a new AI-backed search engine in town. But can it stand up to Google's decades-long hold on internet searches?
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: November 5, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku hard: November 5, 2024
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Moldova's pro-West president wins 2nd term
Speed Read Maia Sandu beat Alexandr Stoianoglo, despite suspicions of Russia meddling in the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
2024 race ends with swing state barnstorming
Speed Read Kamala Harris and Donald Trump held rallies in battlegrounds over the weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
North Korea tests ICBM, readies troops in Ukraine
Speed Read Thousands of North Korean troops are likely to join Russian action against Ukraine
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Women take center stage in campaign finale
Speed Read Harris and Trump are trading gender attacks in the final days before the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US election: who the billionaires are backing
The Explainer More have endorsed Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, but among the 'ultra-rich' the split is more even
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Supreme Court allows purge of Virginia voter rolls
Speed Read Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is purging some 1,600 people from state voter rolls days before the election
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Empowered' Steve Bannon released from prison
Speed Read Bannon was set free a week before Election Day and quickly returned to his right-wing podcast to promote Trump
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Canada accuses top Modi ally of directing Sikh attacks
Speed Read Indian Home Minister Amit Shah was allegedly behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published