Vice-presidential candidates Mike Pence and Tim Kaine attempted to escape the nominees’ shadow in Farmville, Virginia
Trump on trial: Pence defends running mate against Kaine’s attacks in debate
5.22am BST
The first and only vice-presidential debate of 2016 is in the can. Here’s what happened:
Top moment on Facebook of #VPDebate: “He is asking everybody to vote for somebody that he cannot defend.” - @timkaine
.@Mike_Pence: "You whipped out that Mexican thing again."@TimKaine: "Can you defend it?" #VPDebate #debatenight #debates #Debates2016 pic.twitter.com/UCJJpFuIdf
Clinton campaign aides say fundamental takeaway from tonight is that Mike Pence did not show up to defend Trump, promoted himself instead.
Mike Pence won big. We should all be proud of Mike!
3.55am BST
Just another reminder that too often in life and politics, people trade apparent short-term gain for fucking themselves down the line.
The two candidates arguing about "insult-driven" campaigns was the top moment of the debate on @facebook. Watch it below. https://t.co/TJhr76D4n6
The winner of the debate is a deep sense of regret that "generic Republican" wasn't nominated for the top of the ticket. https://t.co/OLMXW0cEIm
Kaine should have brought out that Gospel of Matthew quote earlier, and gone back to it.
Cool chart by @RitchieSKing showing #attacks in the #VPDebate https://t.co/iBZrXWIwvk pic.twitter.com/f0GIu0FZbs
.@Mike_Pence: "You whipped out that Mexican thing again."@TimKaine: "Can you defend it?" #VPDebate #debatenight #debates #Debates2016 pic.twitter.com/UCJJpFuIdf
#VPDebate pic.twitter.com/6qExoprsBi
Pence is giving the country a very good preview of how the Republican Party is going to move beyond Trump. Just pretend he never happened.
3.45am BST
Mike Pence won big. We should all be proud of Mike!
Post-debate Clinton camp: pence never actually defended trump
Kaine interrupted too much and Pence basically denied that Trump ever said everything he has ever said. #debate
@NoahShachtman he had no chill
Now I want to meet the Trump from Earth 2 that Pence was describing.
The GOP needs to #fliptheticket
Pence is working hard (and largely succeeding) to look statesmanlike, etc. Kaine is trying to rattle off as many attacks on Trump as he can.
"Whip Out That Mexican Thing!" wins debate.
"whipped out that Mexican thing again" is very unfortunate
Pretty accurate summary of the #VPDebate: pic.twitter.com/BvBtbiuX5f
My specially-assembled #VPDebate focus group: pic.twitter.com/hm7lekBquc
kaine + pence = peterman pic.twitter.com/B66OEPeOhi
3.38am BST
Pence: ‘Donald Trump and I would just never support legislation that would punish a woman for making the heartbreaking decision to terminate a pregnancy’
Kaine is correct that Trump suggested women should be punished for having abortions – he then recanted the idea at the end of a day of flip flopping positions. Unlike Pence, Trump has not been pro-life his whole life. In 1999, he said: “I hate the concept of abortion. I hate it. I hate everything it stands for, I cringe when I listen to people debating the subject, but still I just believe in choice.”
3.37am BST
Pence: the Associated Press found that more than half of Clinton’s meetings as secretary of state were with donors to the Clinton Foundation
The AP story on Clinton’s meetings did not include her meetings with people in the US government and from foreign governments – who were by a huge margin the people she met with while serving as the top diplomat of the United States.
3.36am BST
@mollyesque I never liked Pence in "Mad Men."
3.36am BST
That’s it! It’s done. Who won? Did Kaine rattle Pence? How did Quijano do?
3.35am BST
Many have been asking what kind of pin Tim Kaine is wearing on his lapel tonight.
Answer: A Blue Star Pin, worn by the families of those who serve in the military, in honor of his son Nat.
3.35am BST
Last question: How would you bring the country together if elected?
Kaine: Clinton was first lady, senator and now the nominee. I’m surprised all the time by how well people say they worked with her. He names children’s health care and care for 9/11 survivors. “She has a track record of working across the aisle to make things happen.” He mentions he had two Republican- controlled legislatures while governor.
3.32am BST
Quijano: describe your faith life.
Kaine: This question is easy. Irish Catholic, Jesuit, Catholic missionary, people should worship as they please. As state governor, he says, he struggled with Virginia’s death penalty. He opposed it based on religion. “But I know how to take an oath and uphold the law... it was very very difficult to allow an execution to go forward... that was a real struggle” but people of faith can’t just substitute their own views on everyone.
3.28am BST
The candidates are asked about their faith. The Guardian’s Stephanie Kirchgaessner has taken a look at their different Catholic-inspired visions:
Related: Kaine and Pence: two Catholic-inspired visions with little else in common
3.27am BST
It’s all about the
Benjamins
Putin(s)
CLINTON’S CLOSE TIES TO PUTIN DESERVE SCRUTINY:https://t.co/wPYm5vQoyt #VPDebate
Actually, @mike_pence, your running mate did say that. https://t.co/qtAiHWDqsr #VPDebate pic.twitter.com/youtybAqic
3.23am BST
Kaine says that Trump owes $650m including to the bank of China.
Pence is shaking his head and frowning. Pence seems really offended by Kaine saying all this stuff with a smile.
3.22am BST
Pence says that the Clinton foundation lets the Clintons travel the world but we’d know a lot more about it if Hillary Clinton would release 33,000 emails she released.
Kaine is asked whether he would take action if North Korea launched a nuke that could hit the USA.
"It's inarguable that Vladimir Putin has been a stronger leader in his country than Barack Obama has been in this country." – Mike Pence
3.22am BST
Kaine: Trump ‘doesn’t pay taxes’
Nobody except Trump and his current accountant seem to know for sure whether Trump pays taxes.
3.21am BST
Kaine says the Clinton foundation is great. It provides Aids drugs and helps Americans with opioid addictions. And Clinton as secretary of state took no action on behalf of the foundation.
“The Trump foundation..[he means Trump organization?] is an octopus-like foundation around the world...whose conflicts of interests could only be known if Donald Trump releases his tax returns... it’s not a nonprofit. It’s putting money into Donald Trump’s pockets and the pockets of his children...
The foundation was just fined for an ... illegal contribution and then they tried to hide it.. and the person they donated to was somebody’s office who was trying to investigate Trump University.
3.19am BST
Kaine: Trump has praised Vladimir Putin and ‘it’s clear that he has business dealings with Russian oligarchs who are dealing with Putin’
Trump has repeatedly called Russia’s president a “strong leader” and spoken approvingly of this strength and Putin’s polling numbers. For instance, on 18 December 2015 he told MSNBC: “I’ve always felt fine about Putin. I think that he’s a strong leader.”
3.18am BST
On to North Korea. How to stop them from developing a missile capable of reaching the USA?
Pence: we need to rebuild the American military and marshal American forces to build a coalition to fight the problem. “When Donald Trump is president,” Pence says, “we’re going to go back to the days of peace through strength.”
3.16am BST
Quijano for Pence: Why would Putin respect a Donald Trump administration.
Pence: “Strength, plain and simple.”
3.15am BST
Kaine: ‘A Republican FBI director’ concluded that there was no reasonable prosecutor who would charge Clinton with wrongdoing
FBI director James Comey was George W Bush’s deputy attorney general, and a registered Republican, but is no longer registered with the party. Comey did say that “no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,” against Clinton over her use of a private email server while secretary of state. But Comey also excoriated Clinton for “extremely careless” practices, and found that she had spoken falsely repeatedly about the system.
3.11am BST
Kaine says that Pence is not even attempting to defend his running mate’s position.
I’ll defend them one at a time, Pence says.
3.08am BST
Cross·talk (/ˈkrôsˌtôk/)
3.07am BST
Pence: “To see the weak and feckless leadership was the architect of..”
Kaine; “He doesn’t want to acknowledge that we stopped the Iranian nuclear weapons program. He doesn’t want to acknowledge that HIllary Clinton was part of the team that got Bin Laden.
3.04am BST
Question about Syria. Russian-backed Syrian forces and Russian forces are bombing Syrian civilians. Should the United States get involved.
Pence says Syria is a mess. “We’ve got to begin to lean into this with strong, broad-shouldered American leadership. It begins by rebuilding our military...
“The provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength.. if Russia chooses to continue to strike... the United States should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime.
2.59am BST
Kaine: Donald Trump supports the mass deportation of 11 million people
During a 10 November primary debate, Trump expressed support for Dwight Eisenhower’s Operation Wetback, the forcible deportation of hundreds of thousands of migrants, sometimes under inhumane circumstances. He was pressed on this support in an interview with O’Reilly, who himself called the operation “really brutal”.
Calls to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. are offensive and unconstitutional.
Related: Syrian refugees in America: separating fact from fiction in the debate
2.58am BST
They’re still talking about counter-terror. Kaine says alliances are crucial.
That’s why Donald Trump’s claim that Nato is obsolete is so dangerous.
“We have got to bring together the best experience of this country to understand that cyber warfare is the new warfare... It’s important to remember in this moment that Hillary Clinton had a private server in her home... her private server was subject to being hammered.
2.55am BST
Two different world views on display:
Pence: “You’ve got to err on the side of the safety of the American people.”
2.54am BST
Pence says that the Obama administration created Isis by failing to renegotiate a status of forces deal in Iraq. Pence says that the Iran nuclear deal put Iran on the path to a nuclear weapon.
Kaine says the opposite is true.
Hillary and I want to focus on danger. These guys say all Mexicans are bad. ... Donald Trump said keep them out if they’re Muslim.
We should focus on danger, not upon discrimination.
2.54am BST
We take a break from our regularly scheduled fact-checking and live updates to bring you some wacky hand gestures:
2.50am BST
Next question: Is the terror threat worse now or better? Most Americans feel it’s worse.
Kaine says it’s not as bad, because bin Laden is dead, but we face major challenges.
He trash-talks the military... he wants to tear up alliances... third, he loves dictators, he’s got kind of a personal mount Rushmore... Trump believes that the world will be safer if more nations had nuclear weapons.
2.48am BST
Pence: Clinton and Kaine support “open borders”
Neither ticket supports “open borders”, which the US does not have. Pence appears to be using the word to denigrate Barack Obama’s support for immigration reform and protection for some undocumented people from deportation. But Obama has deported a record more than 2.5 million people since he took office, including a record 438,421 people in 2013, and increased Border Patrol staff to a record 21,444 agents in 2011; his policy could not reasonably be described as “amnesty” or “open borders”.
2.46am BST
Kaine says that Trump would go door-to-door, house-to-house, and deport undocumented migrants with a deportation force.
Pence pretends that when Trump said “deportation force” he was just talking about ICE: “We have a deportation force, it’s called immigration and customs enforcement.”
2.42am BST
Next up is immigration reform. Pence says that “Donald Trump has a plan.”
Yes, we know.
That’s small potatoes compared to Hillary Clinton calling a half of Donald Trump’s supporters a basket of deplorables.
2.41am BST
Kaine: ‘The debt explosion on the Trump side is much much bigger than anything on the Clinton side’
Kaine is correct, according to conservative and nonpartisan thinktanks alike. Clinton’s proposed tax plan would add $191bn to the debt over the long term, according to the Committee for a Responsible Budget, a conservative thinktank. The Tax Policy Center, however, estimates that she would add $1.1tn in revenue in a decade, though much of that would be offset by increased spending. The Tax Foundation estimated that Trump’s plan would add $5.3tn to the debt.
2.38am BST
Kaine is back: “There is a fundamental respect issue here.. Trump has called Mexicans rapists and criminals.. He’s called women slobs, pigs, dogs... attacked a federal judge... said McCain wasn’t a hero because he’s been captured... and he perpetrated this outrageous and bigoted lie that Barack Obama isn’t a citizen.”
Kaine now flips Pence’s accusation from the top of the debate:
I can’t believe that governor Pence would defend the insult-driven campaign that Trump has run.
2.37am BST
Kaine says it’s important to have a conversation about bias.
Pence: “Why would Hillary Clinton accuse that African American police officer of implicit bias.”
2.34am BST
Relax, everyone. It’s “no contest!”
.@mike_pence is doing a great job - so far, no contest!
2.34am BST
Pence says his uncle was a cop and he would marvel at his uncle’s sidearm. Police officers are the “best of us,” Pence says.
Pence says, “at the risk of agreeing with you,” I think community policing is a great idea.
2.33am BST
Pence: ‘He’s created a business that’s worth billions of dollars’
There is no direct evidence that Trump’s business is worth billions of dollars – the only tax return publicly available, published by the New York Times last weekend, shows that he reported a $916m loss in 1995. Trump could prove the worth of his business by publishing his returns. Forbes estimates Trump is worth $3.7bn, far lower than his claimed $10bn.
2.31am BST
Kaine describes a “debt explosion of the Trump plan.”
Next question: law enforcement. Yesterday Trump said the country has race riots every night. Question is, do we ask too much of police officers?
2.30am BST
Evan McMullin, the independent you may or may not know is also running for president, has weighed in from far (far) off-stage:
Sorry @timkaine, @HillaryClinton did not "revive the hunt for bin laden." I was there.
2.29am BST
Kaine claims that the Bush era tax cuts were a direct cause of the financial crisis:
The tax cuts signed by George W Bush lowered taxes on income, capital gains and dividends, and had several provisions to help married people, parents and the poor. They greatly benefited the wealthy, and unsurprisingly became a symbol of the way inequality in the US has yawned into a chasm between the rich and everyone else. But while inequality may be a destabilizing force in the economy, the tax cuts themselves were not one of the factors that drove the 2008 crisis.
2.28am BST
Social security question. Kaine, his eyes sparkling, says “we will never, ever engage in a risky scheme to privatize social security.”
Kaine notes that Pence was a “chief cheerleader for the privatization of social security” and Trump likes the idea too.
2.26am BST
Pence gets the taxes question again.
The returns “show that he faced some pretty tough times 20 years ago... we have a tax code that actually is designed to encourage entrepreneurship... he went through a very difficult time, but he used the tax code just the way it’s supposed to be used,” Pence says.
2.25am BST
Pence: the Obama administration has ‘stifled the economy’
Obama took office in the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, and the economy has crawled back into recovery over his two terms, with employment nearly down to pre-crisis levels. It’s arguable that his policies have restricted some growth, but the economy has held to a steadily upward track.
2.23am BST
Pence takes a question about Trump’s taxes. Trump said he used the laws to pay as little tax as possible.
Pence returns to Kaine’s “you’re hired you’re fired thing”. Pence says that Clinton-Kaine would introduce $2tn in more spending, debt, more government.
2.21am BST
Kaine asks, do you want a “you’re hired president under Hillary Clinton, or a you’re fired president with Donald Trump”?
Then he goes into a riff on pre-K education, tax relief for the middle classes, small business tax relief and support.
2.19am BST
Quijano, rather gently, gets control back.
This is kind of punchy. Who’s swinging better?
2.16am BST
Kaine cuts off Pence, who’s now on to the Clinton foundation, which Pence says accepted foreign contributions in exchange for foreign influence.
Kaine gets the mic. When Hillary CLinton became Secretary of state, Kaine says, bin Laden was alive, many troops were in Afghanistan and Iran had an active nuclear program.
2.15am BST
Mike Pence: ‘Norwood University’
In his opening statement, Pence misstated the name of the university hosting the debate. It is Longwood University, not Norwood.
2.14am BST
Pence takes the same question. Voters don’t like your guy. Why?
Pence picks a fight with Kaine:
Senator you and Hillary Clinton would know a lot about insult... she is the architect of the Obama administration’s foreign policy... Syria today is the result of a failed foreign policy.
2.12am BST
Now for Kaine. He’s praised Clinton’s character. Why do 60% of voters not trust Hillary Clinton? Quijano mentions “emails and her foundation.”
Kaine says he trusts Clinton because “Hillary Clinton has that passion” to serve others with a special focus on civil rights. “It’s always been about putting others first, and that’s a sharp contrast with Donald Trump. Donald Trump puts himself first.”
2.10am BST
Pence is talking now. He says these are dire times for the nation. Conflicts overseas and Obamacare at home.
He says he’s a small-town boy who grew up near a cornfield. He says his mom and dad built a family, a good name and a business. He says he never imagined he’d be governor “let alone be sitting at a table like this.”
2.08am BST
Quijano poses the first question. Kaine won a coin toss and takes it first.
Why are you qualified to be president?
2.05am BST
Once again, the candidates reverse their respective parties’ identifying colors. Pence is in a blue tie, Kaine in red.
2.04am BST
Here we go - Enjoy!
Ready. #VPDebate pic.twitter.com/tiMgo9pmqC
2.03am BST
Former Obama adviser David Axelrod is on CNN making this debate sound as exciting as we can imagine: the stakes are, Pence has to stop his campaign’s bleeding until Trump can get onstage Sunday night and not do any new bleeding, Axelrod says.
Let’s go with that. Pence the paramedic arrives on the scene and ... but here now, we’re starting.
1.57am BST
Moderator Elaine Quijano has admonished the crowd to silence their cell phones and refrain from reaction to the action onstage. She’s seated in place at the round table.
Did we mention there’s a round table? Unlike the first presidential debate, which used lecterns, the candidates will debate tonight while seated across from one another and the moderator.
1.53am BST
Since you’re here, we’ve got a quick request. The Guardian is an independent voice in this year’s election. That means no bias or corporate owner influencing our coverage. But in-depth political reporting takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. If everyone who reads this blog helps to pay for it, our future will be more secure.
Please consider supporting the Guardian with a monthly payment, or a one-off contribution.
1.52am BST
1.42am BST
If you’re just joining us – welcome to our live-wire coverage of the first and only vice-presidential debate of the 2016 presidential election. This is one-night-only, folks – and we’re thrilled to be sharing it with you.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine will face Republican nominee Mike Pence onstage at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, starting in just a few moments now, at 9pm ET. Elaine Quijano of CBS News will be moderating.
The most famous question in vice presidential debate history ---> https://t.co/gFI7U7Mh63
1.30am BST
Trump spokesman Jason Miller says that Trump’s campaign CEO, his spokeswoman, a key campaign surrogate and the digital media director will all be present as the candidate live tweets.
Aides present tonight as Trump live tweets, per Jason Miller:
Steve Bannon
Hope Hicks
Stephen Miller
Dan Scavino
I will be live-tweeting the V.P. Debate. Very exciting! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
1.25am BST
Donald Trump is watching the debate, his tracking pool of reporters says, from inside the Trump hotel in the Las Vegas strip.
Judging from his Twitter feed, the Republican presidential nominee is in position. Did he order room service? He’s been torturing himself with CNN, by the sounds of it. Change the channel already!
Wow, @CNN is so negative. Their panel is a joke, biased and very dumb. I'm turning to @FoxNews where we get a fair shake! Mike will do great
You know you could always just watch the baseball game . . . https://t.co/zTyG93aYiB
12.49am BST
Mike Pence hosted a conservative talk show for five years in the 1990s after two failed congressional bids. (He went on to become a six-term congressman and a member of the Republican leadership.)
On YouTube you can find footage of the final three minutes of Pence’s show. Trigger warning: it’s nuclear-grade patriotic and pretty sappy: “When those planes fly over speedway Indiana, there’ll be a little bit of mist in this American’s eyes, cause you got the job done.”
12.33am BST
.@TimKaine's spent his whole life fighting for working families, so I have no doubt he'll do the same tonight. Go get 'em, Tim. -H
And you know what, frankly? If he screws up, the Democrats can just...
12.27am BST
While you’re shooting pool, the national Republican party is playing three-dimensional chess.
For example, tonight they have already released statements declaring Mike Pence the winner of the debate and Hillary Clinton the loser.
This seems a smidge premature. (v @becket) pic.twitter.com/wWGpawNyb0
The GOP has replaced its premature "Mike Pence won and Tim Kaine is lame!" post with this error message: pic.twitter.com/G3BFJCudFb
12.23am BST
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook tells reporters before tonight’s debate that the campaign expects Trump to be better prepared next time around (even without, apparently, Nigel Farage’s help).
Mook refers to two hours of videos of a Trump deposition in a lawsuit against a restaurateur that was released last week. In the deposition Trump is indeed poised.
Clinton manager Robby Mook, before VP debate: 'We are expecting [Donald Trump] to be better prepared for the next debate.'
Mook: 'We all saw those deposition tapes. We know that there is a calm, cool & collected Donald Trump that can show up, and we expect that.'
12.15am BST
A veteran of the White House, Pentagon and supreme court beats and a former CNN talent, Elaine Quijano anchors politics coverage on CBSN, the live-streaming digital version of CBS News.
She grew up in a Chicago suburb, majored in engineering and “lucked into a broadcast journalism career”, she tells an interviewer in the Filipinas Magazine clip below:
While covering the debates like the hundreds of other journalists who descend upon the four universities hosting the debates, Scully has also done the work to prepare his own separate sets of questions for every debate, as though he will be the moderator. That’s because he could end up being one.
“I have the file with me,” Scully said ahead of the debate at Hofstra University last week. “If they call me at 8:59 p.m. I’m ready to go, and if they do in the next three debates I’m ready to go as well.”
12.06am BST
The potential future first gentleman modifies a Barack Obama line – “don’t boo. Vote!” – to stop a crowd in Ohio from chanting “Lock Him Up” – a line in turn borrowed from Trump supporters who enjoy saying “Lock Her Up” about Hillary Clinton.
Not calling for the imprisonment of one’s patently criminal opponent: this qualifies as high-level political discourse:
Bill Clinton admonished audience member who says Trump should be "locked up"
"We don't do that," says WJC. "Don't lock him up. Vote."
12.03am BST
Trump, having just spoken in Arizona, is flying to Las Vegas to stay at a hotel and watch the debate, the pool of reporters covering his campaign says.
Trump has promised to live-tweet the debate:
I will be watching the great Governor @Mike_Pence and live tweeting the VP debate tonight starting at 8:30pm est! Enjoy!
At the request of many, and even though I expect it to be a very boring two hours, I will be covering the Democrat Debate live on twitter!
Should be interesting but too bad the three guys at《1% will be taking up so much time - but who knows, maybe a star will be born (unlikely)
"@StreckerJosh: The Hillary love fest on CNN is ridiculous. I feel bad for the other candidates...especially the non-criminal ones."
We will all have fun and hopefully learn something tonight. I will shoot straight and call it as I see it, both the good and the bad. Enjoy!
Can anyone imagine Chafee as president? No way.
O'Malley, as former Mayor of Baltimore, has very little chance.
11.50pm BST
From Lloyd Bentsen’s “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy” to Geraldine Ferraro’s “I almost resent, vice president Bush, your patronizing attitude” to Sarah Palin’s “Say it ain’t so, Joe” – USA Today has a medley of top moments from previous vice presidential debates (click through if video player below is not working for you):
11.38pm BST
Michelle Obama campaigned for Clinton in Charlotte, North Carolina, today.
There’s a striking moment when the first lady is talking about Clinton’s resilience and taps her microphone in apparent reference to Trump’s blaming his lost debate Monday on a microphone malfunction:
Hillary Clinton is tough. I watched her. When she gets knocked down, she doesn’t complain. She doesn’t cry foul. No, she gets right back up, comes back stronger.
11.30pm BST
Clinton convened a news conference after a rally today in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to discuss Trump’s remarks about veterans with PTSD, which vice president Joe Biden criticized passionately on Monday.
“Our troops deserve a commander-in-chief who respects and understands the sacrifices they make,” Clinton says.
I learned that preparation is important.”
Here is the video of the Hillary Clinton news conference from today https://t.co/74toMNGALP
11.14pm BST
Trump is done in Arizona. He tells people to vote on 8 November but doesn’t tell them they can start voting early in the state in about two weeks and doesn’t tell them they can vote by mail.
Arizona is good for 11 electoral votes. Polling averages have Trump leading in the state, which voted for Bill Clinton in 1996 but before that had not gone Democratic in a presidential election year since Truman.
11.09pm BST
Each side has produced a video attacking the other side’s vice presidential nominee (the attack on Pence was produced by the Clinton campaign; the attack on Kaine was produced by the Republican national committee).
Here they are:
Mike Pence: a divisive, anti-woman, anti-LGBT, anti-worker extremist.
No wonder Trump picked him. #VPDebate pic.twitter.com/icAN1P5DN2
11.05pm BST
What does the C stand for again? (That’s a joke at Clinton’s expense.) (And if you have to explain humor, it’s bad.)
Post-debate polls in PA, NC, and FL--basically must-wins for Trump:
PA: C+10, C+9, C+4
FL: C+5, C+4, C+2, C+1
NC: C+6, C+3, C+2, C+2, C+1
11.03pm BST
Trump is addressing a crowd now in Prescott Valley, Arizona. He’s talking about murders in Chicago. Watch it live here:
11.01pm BST
Follow baseball? There’s a wildcard playoff game tonight between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. The game begins just after 8pm ET. And a lot of you out there on social media sound conflicted about what to watch...
You know we could just call this VP debate a tie and watch the AL wildcard instead.
10.54pm BST
Andrew Anthony has interviewed Ann Coulter for the Guardian. Coulter is a perennially relevant conservative shock-jock whose inTENSE enthusiasm this election cycle for Donald Trump and his scorched-earth immigration policies was only temporarily shaken when Trump appeared this summer to be leaving those policies behind.
Then he got back in line and she got back in line. From the interview:
Do you think the Republican party will survive Donald Trump?
The only way it can survive is with Donald Trump. What’s really hurting his message more than anything else, especially among black voters, is that he’s a Republican. That’s what the Republican party has done to the brand. The sooner it gets rebranded the Trumpian Republican party the better. Finally, we have a candidate who cares about Americans and not just the donor class.
My testy interview w/ The Guardian! Ann Coulter on Trump: ‘Finally, we have a candidate who cares about Americans’ - https://t.co/hhTzDYoWee
10.43pm BST
Quick make a joke about this tweet:
Clinton slips and says it's 35 years, not 35 days until the election.
you ok, tweeps? pic.twitter.com/c7tJFHASJ7
10.39pm BST
On the off chance your vice presidential debate night expectations are so low that they’re bringing you dangerously close to that territory of, “Hell, no, I’m not going to watch the vice-presidential debate! I’ve got closets to organize” – well, reminder: Tim Kaine has a Donald Trump impression up his sleeve.
I wonder if Tim Kaine practiced his Donald Trump impression for tonight
10.33pm BST
At a town hall rally Tuesday, a student told Hillary Clinton that Trump does damage “when he talks about women and how they look” and asks how she would fix it.
Clinton says Trump has taken body shaming to a “new level of ..meanness.”
10.22pm BST
Links to “stories” by the bug-eyed conspiracy site Infowars have been tweeted approvingly this year by Trump père and by both Trump sons. The Trump campaign seems to think of Infowars, like Breitbart, as a kind of opposition research wing, or at least a useful whip for the base. The problem is that Infowars flies over the cuckoo’s nest on its commute to work.
Alex Jones, the program’s star host, thinks George W Bush did 9/11 and actors staged Sandy Hook. Jones’ audience has expanded immensely thanks to the Trump spotlight. Here is him last night mad that Wikileaks’ Julian Assange did not leak documents damaging Hillary Clinton as Assange hinted he would do:
Here's Alex Jones freaking out on Julian Assange https://t.co/zx6jSidGwp
10.11pm BST
The White Stripes, who broke up in 2011, have issued a statement of repulsion that the song Seven Nation Army was used in a Trump booster video – not a Trump campaign official video, it appears, but a video made by an outside fan group identified in at least one place as Downstream Politics (the video was taken down from the Trump subreddit site and elsewhere).
pic.twitter.com/k4n61xdXhz
Would Anthony Bourdain dine with @realDonaldTrump? "Absolutely f---ing not" https://t.co/vqrHThiAQe | AP Photo pic.twitter.com/9QqchC553S
9.48pm BST
What kind of dad are these two men? The Hill’s Reid Wilson has an answer:
Tim Kaine strikes me as the dad who brings you orange slices when you’re a few years too old for orange slices. (1/2)
Mike Pence strikes me as the dad who begins uncomfortable talks about sex or drugs by saying “Let’s rap.” (2/2)
9.46pm BST
Vice president Joe Biden’s advice for the debaters tonight seems to be, “drop out if you’re Mike Pence”.
What’s Kaine supposed to do with that?
Debate advice from @VP Joe Biden, via pool pic.twitter.com/gpLjLMueMk
8.16pm BST
Gary Johnson’s presidential campaign has announced that television host Drew Carey has joined the campaign as an honorary campaign chair for the state of California.
7.57pm BST
No words:
7.26pm BST
Alex Jones has promised a game-changing leak of information on Hillary Clinton’s campaign tomorrow - clearly, he’s up to something.
There's a war on for your mind and https://t.co/q3XYgIsba1 is the 21st century cavalry! pic.twitter.com/O90PwBzwA2
6.41pm BST
Vice president Joe Biden crashed a college party today, starring in a public service announcement about preventing sexual assault on university campuses.
6.20pm BST
It’s turning out to be an awful week for Donald Trump. The Republican nominee for president is worth some $800m less this year than he was last year, according to the Forbes 400, an annual ranking of the world’s wealthiest people.
Related: Donald Trump's net worth is down $800m, according to Forbes
5.38pm BST
Watch it live here:
5.28pm BST
Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) looks like he’s getting ready for a future campaign run, speaking at the Iowa GOP’s Annual Reagan Dinner this Saturday night before the debate.
Cotton has been a hesitant Trump supporter. Cotton is pro NATO and thinks the Iraq War is just, he completed combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He also served as a platoon leader at Arlington National Cemetery, where he ran military honors funerals. He’s seen as a rising star of the GOP.
5.00pm BST
Bernie Sanders is busy campaigning for Hillary Clinton with a packed schedule on Thursday, thanks to rallies in Dearborn, Ann Arbor, East Lansing, and Grand Rapids.
The first of the four events on Thursday begins in Dearborn, a predominantly Arab-Muslim community just outside of Detroit, won by Sanders in the primaries.
Protesters shouting abt criminal justice reform, Bill replies: "Hillary didn't vote for the 94 crime bill even though Sen. Sanders did."
4.40pm BST
Donald Trump used his foundation to donate at least $286,000 to conservative political groups to fuel his presidential run, according to an investigation by RealClearPolitics.
RealClearPolitics reviewed the foundation’s tax filings and say they found donations by Trump’s foundation from 2011-2014, totaling at least $286,000, that helped Trump secure speeches and endorsements as part of his campaign to become the Republican nominee.
Although sources familiar with the thinking behind the donations cautioned that Trump did not explicitly ask for favors in return for the money, they said the contributions were part of a deliberate effort by Trump to ingratiate himself with influential conservatives and brighten his political prospects.
“He was politically active starting in 2011,” said one source with ties to Trump, and at that point he “started to make strategic donations.”
4.22pm BST
Eric Trump tried to spin his father’s 3am insulting tweets about Alicia Machado in an interview with Fox News today by saying it showed “he’s a worker” but did note that sometimes Trump’s energy can be a “downfall.”
“Listen, at least my father’s up at 3 o’clock in the morning, right? Which, you know, is great,” said Trump in an interview with FOX News Channel’s America’s Newsroom .
4.17pm BST
Former Florida Governor Charlie Christ is running for Congress, and his new ad is one of the most charming political ad we’ve seen in a while. It even addresses his well-documented love for fans, to stop him sweating in the Florida humidity.
3.26pm BST
It ain’t easy being a Republican these days.
New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte, a Donald Trump sceptic, yesterday said her party’s presidential nominee was “absolutely” a role model for children - and then later flipped and claimed that she “misspoke”.
3.16pm BST
The VP debate takes place at Longwood University in Virginia tonight and the marching band is already warming up.
Hey we've got a band! The VP debate is a blast #nbc2016 #VPDebate pic.twitter.com/KlsIuC3TSF
3.10pm BST
Columnist Jamie Weinstein says the biggest issue in tonight’s VP debate might be Donald Trump.
If you viewed the presidential debate as a bloody mixed martial arts cage match, the vice-presidential debate is more likely to be akin to a game of patty cakes.
Related: In the vice-presidential debate, Mike Pence has a problem: Donald Trump | Jamie Weinstein
2.40pm BST
A furious Joe Biden slammed the podium and called Donald Trump “uninformed” for his comments regarding veteran suicide and strength, getting emotional as he spoke of the toll of military deaths on the community and Trump’s misunderstanding of the issues.
“I don’t think he was trying to be mean. He is just so thoroughly, completely, uniformed,” declared Biden.
1.33pm BST
Hello, and welcome to our live-wire coverage of the 2016 race for the White House.
Related: Tim Kaine v Mike Pence: what to expect at the VP debate
Related: Mike Pence v Tim Kaine: what to know about the vice-presidential candidates
SIX polls in the field between Thursday and Sunday. ALL of them have Clinton leading by 5-7 points in a head-to-head. pic.twitter.com/rJUBi8EVU0
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