Pence mocks Biden looking at watch during debate
Vice President Mike Pence said President Donald Trump “took the fight straight to Joe Biden” in the final presidential debate.
During a campaign rally Friday afternoon outside a private airport hangar in Swanton, Ohio, near Toledo, Pence laughed to himself as he considered the debate from the night before.
“I saw Joe looking at his watch I figured he was trying to figure out how soon this thing is going to be over,” Pence told the crowd of about 150 people.
He seized on a moment near the end of the presidential debate when Biden, the former vice president, said he wanted to phase out fossil fuels in favor of renewable resources and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. Pence said Biden wants to “abolish” fossil fuels and “end fracking.”
“Did you see it? Joe Biden said that the oil industry pollutes and has to be replaced. It was what the president called a big statement. I gotta tell you: the truth of the matter is, America’s
strength and power comes in part from our vast natural resources. Under President Donald Trump we are going to continue to develop all of the resources of this land and drive a boundless American future.”
Pence held up what he said were the Trump administration’s greatest accomplishments: a strong economy, new trade agreements, military investment and a “secured” border. And he criticized Biden for a soft stance on China.
“We put China on notice. We said the era of economic surrender is over. We imposed tariffs on China and we’re going to keep standing strong until they open their markets to what we make and what we grow.”
Before Pence’s rally in Swanton, Ohio Democrats criticized Trump and Pence for breaking promises and continuing to hold crowded rallies while COVID cases in Ohio continue to rise. Ohio voters could decide the presidential race, the Democrats said.
“I can’t think of a promise he has kept,” said Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz, who called the Trump presidency “an American nightmare.”
No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio. As polls show that Ohio increasingly is looking like a toss-up, the Buckeye State again has become a target for the presidential campaigns.
Pence’s rally in Swanton was his fourth campaign event in Ohio since Sept. 18 and his second of the week in Ohio, including a rally in Cincinnati. Trump is returning to Ohio on Saturday for a campaign event in Circleville. Trump’s children and Second Lady Karen Pence also have campaigned in Ohio recently.
But Trump’s campaign has canceled TV ads in a state that he won by more than 8 percentage points in 2016, while Biden, who has out-raised the president in the stretch run to Election Day, has expanded his presence on Ohio airwaves.
Biden made his first in-person appearance in Ohio since March during a pair of Amtrak station events in Cleveland and Alliance the day after his first debate with Trump. Earlier this month he made stops in Toledo and Cincinnati, and Harris is scheduled to appear Saturday in Cleveland.
Many in attendance for Pence’s event in Swanton sat in socially distanced chairs, and the campaign asked the mostly unmasked crowd to wear face coverings.
Acting as a warmup act to Pence, U.S. Rep. Bob Latta, R-bowling Green, credited Trump and a Republican-backed tax bill for reinvigorating the economy before unemployment skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve had a real tough year with COVID, but before this year started with COVID we had a 3.5% unemployment rate in this country,” Latta said.
During the first three years of
Trump’s presidency, Ohio added about 80,000 nonfarm jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as the job growth rate across the country was triple that of the state.
The state has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs during the economic shutdown triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it already was coming off its worst year for employment since the Great Recession.
Ohio’s economy has started to recover, though it continues to sputter, after unemployment spiked to 17.6% in April. Preliminary data from September showed the unemployment rate was 8.4%, more than double the 4.1% unemployment rate in January.
State Sen. Theresa Gavarone, a Bowling Green Republican, accused Biden of supporting adding justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who would “take away your guns, limit your free speech and take away your rights.” Biden has said he’s “not a fan” of court packing but said he would create a commission to study the issue.
“We need a team that represents our values in Ohio. Here in Ohio we believe you stand for the national anthem and you kneel for God,” Gavarone said. “You have a right to protect your family and your home. You can’t loot and call it a protest – that’s a crime.”
Timothy Sternberg said he was attending the first political rally of his life Friday, the day after he watched the final presidential debate, as he waited in line for Pence’s speech outside Grande Air’s hangar at Toledo Express Airport.
Political activism from his 17-year-old son, Joshua, convinced him to attend.
After the first presidential debate was an “embarrassment to the nation,” Sternberg said the final debate was far more productive for viewers. The debate didn’t change his support for Trump, though.
“Biden just came off as an angry old man, scowling, frustrated, angry,” said Sternberg, a 49-year-old Lutheran pastor from Perrysburg. “Trump just came off as really wanting to debate issues.”
Unlike Sternberg, Toledo floor layer James Hollers said he is a regular at political rallies, though it was his first time seeing Pence. He said his own business boomed during Trump’s presidency as property owners for whom he subcontracts were doing better themselves and reinvested in rental units.
He rated Trump’s debate performance Thursday night far better than the “messy” first debate, which Hollers turned off midway through because it was so difficult to understand. Biden’s answer Thursday night about transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewable resources was a key moment, said Hollers, 59.
“I think that was the downfall totally for him,” he said, pointing to states that rely on energy production to employ thousands of workers.
Lisa Schroeder agreed, saying Biden did more to hurt himself than Trump.
“Let Biden sink his own self,” said Schroeder, a 57-year-old custodial worker from Toledo.
rrouan@dispatch.com