'A fool, a maniac, and a man who loves Russia': Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine goes low with a non-stop interruptions and personal attacks on Donald Trump as vice-presidential debate turns ugly

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The vice-presidential debate took just minutes to turn into a debate on one man – Donald Trump.

Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, started the hostilities in his opening statement, and signaled that he would make attack Trump the theme of the night - then drove home insult after insult by interrupting Mike Pence, his rival, and the moderator, Elaine Quijano.

In no time he was ticking off a list of rhetorical body-slams Trump has used in the 16 months of his presidential campaign.

And across the 90 minutes, he was estimated to have interrupted up to 70 times, a figure come up with by the Republican National Committee. Other estimates were lower - but the trend was clear.

At one point he labeled Trump a 'fool or a maniac', generating a rebuke from Pence: 'That's pretty low, even for you.'

The first snap poll - for CNN - suggested that Trump had benefited more from the debate than Clinton.

A focus group of Ohio voters for CBS News was more damning of Kaine with one man calling him 'a jerk'. 

Donald Trump's son Eric classified Kaine's performance as 'annoying,' while Clinton's team of surrogates were deployed to the spin room to push any style criticism back. 

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Tim Kaine, Hillary Clinton’s running mate (left), opened hostilities against Mike Pence (right) in his opening statement, and signalled that he would make the attack on Trump the theme of the night

Kaine opened up tonight's presidential debate by talking about how much he trusted his running mate, Hillary Clinton, telling voters that he trusted the former secretary of state with the life of his deployed Marine son

Early on, Pence was asked about some of the issues Trump had with temperament, noting how 67 percent of voters thought the billionaire businessman was a risky choice. 'Why do so many Americans think Mr. Trump is simply too erratic?'

Kaine at one point inferred that Trump was a 'fool' and a 'maniac' who could 'trigger some catastrophic event'

Pence accused Kaine of delivering an 'avalanche of insults' during the exchange and at one point said: 'Did you all just hear that? Ours is an insult-driven campaign?'

That went well: Kaine did not endear himself to his own supporters in one focus group of Ohio voters

His opening statement set the tone on Trump. 'He's called Mexicans "rapists and criminals",' Kaine said. 'He has called women slobs, pigs, dogs, disgusting. I don't like saying that in front of my wife and mother.'

'He attacked an Indiana-born federal judge and said he was unqualified to hear a federal lawsuit because his parents were Mexican. He went after John McCain, a POW, and said he wasn't a hero because he was captured. He said African-Americans are living in hell. And he perpetrated this outrageous and bigoted lie that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen.'

'If you want to have a society where people are respected and respect laws,' Kaine complained, 'you can't have somebody at the top who demeans every group that he talks about. And I cannot believe that Gov. Pence will defend the insult-driven campaign that Donald Trump has run.'

CBS correspondent Quijano didn't give Pence an opportunity to respond, but the Republican vice presidential nominee created his own opening while discussing illegal immigration.  

'I was listening to the avalanche of insults coming out of Senator Kaine a minute ago,' he said. 'He says ours is an insult-driven campaign? Did you all just hear that? Ours is an insult-driven campaign?'

'To be honest with you,' Pence said, turning to Kaine, 'if Donald Trump had said all the things that you said he said – in the way you said he said them – he still wouldn't have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton leveled when she said that half of our supporters were a "basket of deplorables".'

'She said they were irredeemable, they were not American. It's extraordinary,' he said.

Kaine listed his litany a second time, saying Clinton had apologized and demanding to know if Trump had done the same.

Pence sniffed that Clinton had only said she was sorry for saying 'half' of Republicans were deplorable. 

In no time Kaine was ticking off a list of rhetorical body-slams Trump has used in the 16 months of his presidential campaign. 'He's called Mexicans "rapists and criminals",' Kaine said. 'He has called women slobs, pigs, dogs, disgusting. I don't like saying that in front of my wife and mother'

Kaine added: 'He attacked an Indiana-born federal judge and said he was unqualified to hear a federal lawsuit because his parents were Mexican. He went after John McCain, a POW, and said he wasn't a hero because he was captured

Pence then turned to Kaine and slammed Clinton for calling half of the Republican supporters a 'basket of deplorables'. She said they were irredeemable, they were not American. It's extraordinary,' he said

HILLARY'S EMAILS GO CENTER STAGE 

In a debate episode about cyber security, Pence went on offense to tie the topic to the now-infamous unsecured and secret email server that housed all of Hillary Clinton's electronic communications while she was secretary of state.

'We have got to bring together the best resources in this country to understand that cyber warfare is the new warfare of the asymmetrical enemies that we face in this country,' Pence said.

'I will also tell you that it's important in this moment to remember that Hillary Clinton had a private server in her home that had classified information on it about drone strikes.'

Quijano cut in as soon as he said the word 'classified.'

'Governor, your 30 seconds is up,' she intoned.

Pence continued: 'Emails from the President of the United States of America were on there. Her private server was subject to being hacked by foreign powers.'

'We could put cyber security first if we just made sure the next secretary of state doesn't have a private server.'

Kaine defended Clinton be falling back on an FBI investigation that concluded Clinton behaved 'recklessly' but not criminally.

'A full investigation concluded that not one reasonable prosecutor would take any additional step,' the Democratic nominee scolded his opponent.

'You don't get to decide the rights and wrongs of this. We have a justice system that does that.'

Pence, unmoved, turned personal, while Quijano struggled to he heard asking a question about Syria.

'Senator, if your son or my son handled classified information the way Hillary Clinton did, they'd be court-martialed,' he said. 

'That is absolutely false, and you know that, governor,' Kaine shot back. 'That's absolutely true,' Pence said quietly, taking the last word.  

Pence drew blood, blaming Clinton's State Department for creating the power vacuum in the Middle East that the ISIS terror army went on to fill

'Iraq has been overrun by ISIS,' Pence (right) said, 'because Hillary Clinton failed to renegotiate a status of forces agreement' with the Iraqi government. 

During an exchange on cyber security, Kaine defended Clinton be falling back on an FBI investigation that concluded Clinton behaved 'recklessly' but not criminally

HIGH EMOTION AS FAITH AND ABORTION RAISED 

Tuesday's debate, the only meeting between the two presidential understudies, was billed as a quiet, policy-driven affair.

But emotional fireworks took off when Pence brought up partial-birth abortion while talking about the impact of his Christian faith on his work in government.

Both men are personally pro-life, but Kaine has embraced Hillary Clinton's pro-choice position as her number-two.

'For me, the sanctity of life proceeds out of the belief – that ancient principle – where God says, "Before you were formed in the womb, I knew you".'

'And so for my first time in public life, I sought to stand with great compassion for the sanctity of life. Society will be judged by how it defends its most vulnerable – the aged, the infirm, the disabled, and the unborn.'

Pence also said he agonized over the idea of partial-birth abortion, a late-pregnancy procedure that terminates the life of a fetus and then extracts it from the womb in anatomically recognizable pieces.

'What I can't understand is with Hillary Clinton, and now Senator Kaine at her side, is to support a practice like partial-birth abortion,' Pence added.

'The very idea that a child that is almost born into the world could still have their life taken from them, is just anathema to me,' he said.

Kaine mocked Trump and Pence for not 'trusting women' to make the agonizing decision whether to terminate a pregnancy.

'We trust American women to do that and we don't think that American women should be punished,' he said.

Trump said in March during an MSNBC town hall event that abortion comes with a 'punishment' for women – a remark that he later said was a misstatement.

Pence said the words came out wrong at the time because Trump is 'not a polished politician like you and Hillary Clinton.'

Kaine repeatedly interrupted his opponent and accused him of failing to properly defend Donald Trump 

In a debate episode about cyber security, Pence went on offense to tie the topic to the now-infamous unsecured and secret email server that housed all of Hillary Clinton's electronic communications while she was secretary of state.

'If you want to have a society where people are respected and respect laws,' Kaine complained, 'you can't have somebody at the top who demeans every group that he talks about'

KAINE'S INTERRUPTIONS TO QUESTION TRUMP'S TAXES 

Kaine, the serial interrupter, used several of his interjections to bash Trump for failing to produce his personal income tax returns.

Quijano asked Pence about a recent New York Times report that surmised Trump may have avoided paying income taxes to Uncle Sam for 18 years, due to legal maneuvers that spread financial losses over many years' returns.

Pence argued Trump exploited the federal tax code 'just the way it's supposed to be used,' and teased Kaine – asking if he had personally taken every tax deduction he was entitled to.

Trump, Kaine responded, had promised to release his tax papers more than a year ago. 'He's broken his first promise,' Kaine said.

'Senator, he's going to release the tax returns when the audit is over,' Pence said – a now-timeworn pledge that is become less credible with just five weeks remaining until election Day.

Kaine also jabbed at Trump, who was watching 2,300 miles away in Las Vegas, for boasting during last week's presidential debate that paying no income taxes in a year when he lost money would show that he is smart.

'So it's smart not to pay for our military? It's smart not to pay for our veterans?' Kaine asked. 'It's smart not to pay our teachers?'

'So I guess the rest of us who do pay for those things are stupid.'

Pence defended Trump's long career as a real estate development employer, praising him for working in the private sector instead of being a career politician.

'He actually built a business. Those tax returns showed he faced some pretty tough times 20 years ago,' Pence said.

'His tax returns showed he went through a very difficult time, but he used the tax code the way it was meant to be used, and he used it brilliantly,' Pence said.

Pence turned personal at one point, telling Kaine: 'Senator, if your son or my son handled classified information the way Hillary Clinton did, they'd be court-martialed,' he said

Pence went on offense to tie the topic to the now-infamous unsecured and secret email server that housed all of Hillary Clinton's electronic communications while she was secretary of state 

Quijano had trouble keeping the debate on track, and challenged Pence time and time again – while standing back when Kaine interrupted him more than a dozen times

'SENATOR THAT'S PRETTY LOW EVEN FOR YOU' 

Quijano had trouble keeping the debate on track, and challenged Pence time and time again – while standing back when Kaine interrupted him more than a dozen times.

She directly needled Pence about his running mate's temperament, saying two-thirds of American voters believe the billionaire businessman would be a 'risky' choice to lead the country.

'Why do so many Americans think Mr. Trump is simply too erratic?' she asked.

Pence quickly took aim at the Democrats instead.

'Let me say first and foremost that, Senator, you and Hillary Clinton would know a lot about an insult-driven campaign. It really is remarkable,' he told Kaine.

Clinton, he said, helmed America's foreign policy in the Middle East as it was 'literally spinning out of control.'

He pointed to Syria and then the 'newly emboldened' Russia, which overtook the Crimea region of Ukraine.

At that, Kaine pounced 

'You guys love Russia,' he began. 'You both have said Vladimir Putin is a better leader than the president.'

Quijano tried again to get the debate back under control.

'These guys have praised Vladimir Putin as a great leader,' Kaine protested. 

‘Ronald Reagan said something really interesting about nuclear proliferation back in the 1980s. He said the problem with nuclear proliferation is some fool or maniac could trigger some catastrophic event. And that’s who I believe Governor Pence’s running mate is – exactly who President Reagan warned us about.’

Pence hit back: ‘Senator, that’s pretty low even for you.’

'I must have hit a nerve here,' Pence snarked.

'To get to your question about trustworthiness,' he said at last, 'Donald Trump has built a business through hard times and through good times. He's brought an extraordinary business acumen.'

'He's employed tens of thousands of people in this country.' 

Kaine returned later to Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, complaining that Trump and Pence had both compared him favorably to U.S. President Barack Obama.

'If you don't know the difference between dictatorship and leadership, you've got to go back to a fifth grade civics class,' Kaine said.

Pence said he and his running mate weren't being complimentary of Putin, but merely stating 'painful facts.'

'That's not an endorsement of Vladimir Putin – that's an indictment of failed leadership,' he said, pointing fingers back at the Democrats.

Kaine snapped back that no president should coddle Putin, and 'Hillary Clinton knows exactly who this guy is.' 

Pence sniffed that Clinton had only said she was sorry for saying 'half' of Republicans were deplorable

CBS correspondent Elaine Quijano tried to keep control of the proceedings as the pair exchanged jibes in their only chance to impress the voters 

Kaine gave Clinton credit for killing Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda ringleader whom President Obama gave the order to kill the third time his military leaders asked him to

PENCE HITS CLINTON ON FOREIGN POLICY RECORD 

Kaine opened up the presidential debate by talking about how much he trusted his running mate, Hillary Clinton, telling voters that he trusted the former secretary of state with the life of his deployed Marine son.

'The thought of Donald Trump as commander-in-chief scares us to death,' Kaine said, as he noted Hillary Clinton's history-making presidential run on several occasions.

Pence told voters early on that 'the American people know we need to make a change,' before thanking Trump for putting him on the ticket.

He then drew blood, however, in blaming Clinton's State Department for creating the power vacuum in the Middle East that the ISIS terror army went on to fill.

'Iraq has been overrun by ISIS,' he said, 'because Hillary Clinton failed to renegotiate a status of forces agreement' with the Iraqi government.

Kaine gave her credit for killing Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda ringleader whom President Obama gave the order to kill the third time his military leaders asked him to.

Early on, Quijano asked Pence about some of the issues Trump had with temperament, noting how 67 percent of voters thought the billionaire businessman was a risky choice. 'Why do so many Americans think Mr. Trump is simply too erratic?'

Pence quickly took aim at the Democrats instead.

'Let me say first and foremost that, Senator, you and Hillary Clinton would know a lot about an insult-driven campaign. It really is remarkable,' Pence replied.

Pence pounced on Clinton's foreign policy credentials, saying she watched over the Middle East as it was 'literally spinning out of control.'

He pointed to Syria and then the 'newly emboldened' Russia, which overtook the Crimea region of Ukraine.

At that Kaine pounced: 'You guys love Russia,' he began. 'You both have said Vladimir Putin is a better leader than the president.' 

Quijano tried to get the debate back under control.

'These guys have praised Vladimir Putin as a great leader,' Kaine protested.

Quijano tried to re-ask the question, why there's such a disconnect between how Pence perceives Trump and what the voters say.

'Because at a time of great challenge in the life of this nation, where we've weakened America's place in the world, stifled America's economy, the campaign of Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine has been an avalanche of insults,' Pence said, aiming the fire back at team Clinton. 

'Look, to get to your question about trustworthiness, Donald Trump has built a business through hard times and through good times. He's brought an extraordinary business acumen,' Pence continued.

'He's employed tens of thousands of people in this country,' the Indiana governor added. 

Kaine looked like he was up for a fight throughout the initial exchanges and wasn't willing to back down from throwing the verbal punches 

The attack on Trump continued as the debate moved to the economy. Kaine described the rival campaigns as 'you're hired, versus you’re fired'

'YOU'RE HIRED VERSUS YOU'RE FIRED': SPLIT ON ECONOMY 

The attack on Trump continued as the debate moved to the economy. Kaine described the rival campaigns as 'you're hired, versus you’re fired'.

But Pence attacked the Obama record.

'The politics of this administration,' Pence continued. 'Have run this economy into a ditch.'

Kaine tried interrupting several times, by noting the 15 million new jobs.

'You can roll out the numbers and sunny side, but people in Scranton know different,' Pence countered, mentioning a pivotal swing state. 'This economy is struggling.'

Pence also gave Kaine a 'God bless you' for his public service, but noted, 'Donald Trump is a businessman, not a politician.  

'The thought of Donald Trump as commander-in-chief scares us to death,' Kaine (pictured) said, as he noted Hillary Clinton's history-making presidential run on several occasions

Moderator Elaine Quijano of CBS News  (in background) watches as Gov. Mike Pence, right, shakes hands with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine

FIRST POLL HANDS IT TO PENCE

A snap poll by CNN/ORC suggested that voters preferred Pence over Kaine after watching the clash.

Its sample, which skews Democratic, found that 53 per cent had not changed their mind as a result. However 29 per cent said they were more likely to vote Trump, compared to 18 per cent for Clinton.

Eric Trump, working the spin room after the debate, praised the governor's performance. 

'Honestly, that's why my father picked him. He's poised, he was amazing, he is incredibly articulate, he was calming in so many ways, but he also lead with tremendous strength,' the young Trump gushed. 'I just think he did an amazing, amazing job tonight.' 

Trump's middle son thought Quijano did alright too. 

'I thought the moderator was fine, they were certainly going back and forth, but I thought it was fine, I thought it was fairly down the middle, it was nice to see,' he said.  

As for Kaine, Eric Trump was irked by the many interruptions. 

'I found them a little annoying, quite frankly, sitting up front,' Trump said, noting his vantage point.

Fox News' Sean Hannity, who was standing nearby, offered his assessment: 'A lot annoying.'  

'A little rude, maybe a lot annoying,' Eric Trump then offered. 

The Clinton campaign's top brass was deployed to the spin room and defended Kaine's style.

'I'm not concerned about that at all,' said campaign manager Robby Mook when Dailymail.com asked if worried the 'annoying' label would stick.

'What was frustrating about this debate was at times Governor Pence said things that were simply not true, but more often than not he was refusing to take a position on his running mate's statements and policies.'

'I think it's troubling that they don't seem to be acting as a unit,' Mook continued. 'And Mike Pence did not show up to have Donald Trump's back,' the campaign manager charged.

Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta admitted that Pence offered a 'smooth' performance. 'But he basically walked away from the top of the ticket,' the longtime Clinton ally quipped.

 Podesta said he didn't believe Kaine needed more practice before the debate. 

'As I said, I give Gov. Pence credit for a smooth performance, but every time Tim Kaine was really just quoting Donald Trump he'd shake his head "no," and I'm not sure what signal that sends, "no" that he didn't think the charge was fair, or "no" that he didn't support Donald Trump,' Podesta said, hammering in the Pence-didn't-have-Trump's-back talking point.  

At least both men can say their national stature has been elevated. 

Before being added to the national ticket neither Pence nor Kaine could be considered significant national figures, but political insiders were familiar with both and they were considered solid standard-bearers of their respective parties.

Recent polling shows that 41 percent of Americans couldn't name Pence as Trump's running mate, while an even bigger 46 percent didn't connect Kaine with the Clinton campaign. 

The pair tightly gripped each other's hands as they walked onto the stage for the highly-anticipated clash 

Kaine waves to the crowd with his hand on Pence's back ahead of the pair's only debate ahead of the election 

The running mates both smile as they shake hands before the debate. Polls before the event suggested many Americans could not name the candidates 

Moderator Elaine Quijano of CBS News addresses the candidates as the begin to answer questions in Virginia 

Anne Holton, wife of vice-presidential candidate Sen. Tim Kaine waits for the vice-presidential debate to begin

Karen Pence, wife of Republican candidate for Vice President Mike Pence, arrives for the vice presidential debate 

Eric Trump, son of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, takes his seat in the front row before the debate s

He listens as the audience at Longwood University are given instructions by the moderator and debate committee 

He raised a smile at one point while talking to the person sitting next to him. His father was busy on the campaign trail, but managed to live-Tweet throughout the debate 

Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile (left) talks with Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus ahead of the one and only Vice Presidential debate 

Former Democratic Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., speaks with an audience member before the candidate's clash