FARMVILLE: Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Kaine ripped apart Donald Trump for his "dangerous" ideas of supporting more nations getting nuclear weapons and having no plans to combat terrorism. Senator Kaine and his Republican rival Mike Pence clashed in the first and only vice presidential debate here last night, constantly interrupting each other on issues of immigration, terrorism and the Syrian war.
On a question by debate moderator Elaine Quijano of CBS News whether America is safer today, Kaine said the terrorist threat facing the US has decreased in some ways because Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is dead and the Iranian nuclear weapon programme has been stopped. He, however, slammed Trump for having no plans to combat terrorism and "trash-talking" US military and its generals. "Trump can't start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot. Donald Trump doesn't have a plan.
He said I have a secret plan, and then he said I know more than all the general about ISIS. And then he said, I want to call the generals to help me figure out a plan and finally, he said I would fire all the generals," Kaine said in his salvo against Trump.
He said Trump only has "dangerous ideas", which include trash-talking the military and calling it a "disaster". "He loves dictators. He got a personal Mount Rushmore -- (Russian President) Vladimir Putin, (North Korean Leader) Kim Jong-Un, (Libyan dictator) Muammar Gaddafi and (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein," he said referring to the massive sculpture carved into Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota with faces of US presidents. Pence remarked "Oh come on" to these comments. Kaine said Hillary Clinton is the only candidate who can beat terrorism because she has got a plan to do it. "She was part of the national security team that wiped out bin Laden. We have a plan to defeat ISIS.
We have to keep taking out their leaders on the ground. Just as Clinton was part of the team that got bin Laden, she will lead the team that will get ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," Kaine said.
He said Clinton's plan to fight terrorism includes need to disrupt financing networks, disrupt terrorists' ability to recruit on the internet and end their safe havens. "We also have to work with allies to share and surge intelligent," he said as opposed to Trump’s plan to tear down alliances like NATO. Kaine said that "most dangerously", Trump believes that the world will be safer if more nations have nuclear weapons. Pence responded by saying it looked like Kaine had worked on his speech on terrorism "for a long time" as it contained very "creative lines". "America is less safe today than it was the day Barack Obama became president of the US.
It is absolutely inarguable. We've weakened America's place in the world…mostly it's been a lack of leadership," he said, adding that America’s "primary" threat today is ISIS and the country is "back at war" in Iraq.
Pence was asked that while Trump has proposed extreme vetting of immigrants from parts of the world that export terrorism, how does he propose to tackle terrorist attacks, such as the Orlando nightclub massacre and the recent bombings in New York and New Jersey, perpetrated by homegrown terrorists who were "US citizens and legal residents."
Pence did not appear to give a straight answer, saying "it really does begin with us reforming our immigration system and putting the interest, particularly the safety and security of the American people first". "Trump has called for extreme vetting for people coming into this country so we don't bring people into the US who are hostile to our Bill of Rights freedoms, who are hostile to the American way of life. Also Donald Trump and I are committed to suspending the Syrian refugee program and programs and immigration from areas of the world that have been compromised by terrorism," he said, adding if he is vice President and Trump is president, they are going to put the security of American people first.
On immigration, Pence said Trump has laid out a plan to end illegal immigration once and for all in this country. "Clinton and Tim Kaine want to continue the policies of open borders, amnesty, catch and release, sanctuary cities, all the things that are driving wages down in this country. And often with criminal aliens in the country, it is bringing heartbreak. But Donald Trump has a plan that will deal systematically with illegal immigration beginning with border security, internal enforcement," he said. He added that his presidential leader has laid out a priority to remove criminal aliens, "remove people who have overstayed their visas". Kaine responded by saying that while he and Clinton believe in comprehensible immigration reform, Trump believes in deportation. On the war and humanitarian crisis in Syria, Pence said America should immediately establish safe zones so that the families with children can move out of those areas.
"I just have to tell you that the provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength," he said. "When Donald Trump becomes president of the US, the Russians and the other countries in the world will know who they were dealing with - a strong American president," he said.