Tipsheet

Pence's Attempt to Grab Audience's Attention During Second GOP Debate Failed

Sarah Arnold
Sarah Arnold  |  September 28, 2023 9:45 AM

The second Republican presidential debate has concluded, and it was one for the books as candidates were more fired up than during the first debate. 

From Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott's (R-SC) battle over curtains to Chris Christie (R-N.J.) calling former President Trump "Donald Duck" to the chaos that pursued between businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Scott— one candidate's comments stood out. 

Former Vice President Mike Pence took the cake for attempting to grab the audience's attention with his one-liners. However, he failed to execute it. 

In an eyebrow-raising comment, Pence said that he has been "sleeping with a teacher" for 38 years after Christie attacked President Joe Biden for "sleeping with a member of a teachers union" in a previous answer. 

The second GOP debate got rowdy as the candidates battled it out for the win as many clashed with one another. 

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It's hard to tell who the actual winner of the night was, but one thing is sure— Trump's absence will probably boost his poll numbers once again, and offer no help to the other candidates fighting to at least get their numbers in the double digits. 

Speaking of Trump, Pence called out his former boss for skipping the debate, saying that he thinks the Trump in 2016 is different from the Trump we see today. 

"I think he owes it to voters to answer the tough questions and to share his vision for where we lead this country out of the failed policies of the Biden administration," Pence said hours before the debate kicked off. "You bet I think he ought to be on that debate stage. He ought to be engaging all of us that are vying for this nomination. He ought to be sharing his vision." 

Pence then attempted to attack Biden but got little audience reaction. 

"Joe Biden doesn't belong on a picket line; he belongs on the unemployment line," Pence argued when asked about the ongoing autoworker strike. However, his remark fell flat and was met with a silent reaction from the crowd. 

The former vice president did make a good point though when he criticized Biden's green energy agenda, arguing that Bidenomics is failing the American people. 

"I know something about manufacturing," Pence began. "And I got to tell you, while the union bosses are talking about class warfare and disparity in wages, I have to tell you, I really believe what's driving that is: Bidenomics is failing. Wages are not keeping up with inflation, autoworkers and all American workers are feeling it, and families are struggling in this economy."