FARMVILLE, Va. -- During the campaign's only vice presidential debate, Democrat Tim Kaine challenged Donald Trump's qualifications for the presidency Tuesday night, casting him as a "me-first" mogul who won't level with Americans about his business record.
Republican Mike Pence lashed back with criticism of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton but didn't dispute that running mate Trump hadn't paid federal taxes for years.
Pence, Indiana's governor, also panned the Democratic ticket as promising frustrated Americans "more of the same." He said Trump would repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and he noted former President Bill Clinton's criticism of the measure this week.
[INTERACTIVE: 2016 presidential, vice presidential debates]
Kaine, a U.S. senator from Virginia, began the debate on the attack. He turned two of the first answers from questions about himself or Clinton into attacks on Trump.
He pressured Pence to answer for some of his running mate's often controversial statements, using Trump's own words including some of the Republican's demeaning comments about women. He also challenged Pence on Trump's decision to break with decades of campaign tradition by not releasing his taxes.
"Donald Trump must give the American public his tax returns to show he's prepared to be president, and he's breaking his promise," Kaine said. "I can't imagine how Gov. Pence can defend the insult-driven, selfish, me-first style of Donald Trump."
Pence was asked about a New York Times report, which relied on leaked pages from Trump's 1995 tax returns, showing that Trump had claimed a $916 million loss -- and might have been able to avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years.
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Pence did not make any claim that Trump had paid federal income taxes.
"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. "Donald Trump has created tens of thousands of jobs, and he's paid payroll taxes, property taxes."
Pence repeated what Trump has said -- that he would release the tax returns, but only when an Internal Revenue Service audit is over. The IRS has said there is no legal prohibition on releasing taxes while they are under audit.
Seeking to draw a contrast with Clinton and Kaine, Pence said Trump is "a businessman, not a career politician."
Kaine, too, addressed his running mate's weaknesses, chiefly the public's questions about her honesty and trustworthiness. He said that while Trump was "selfish," Clinton had devoted her career to helping children and families.
Earlier, Kaine opened the debate by saying he was "scared" of the prospect that the GOP nominee would become president while Kaine's son is serving in the Marine Corps.
"We trust Hillary Clinton as president and commander in chief," Kaine said, speaking of himself and his wife. "The thought of Donald Trump as commander in chief scares us to death."
Policy attacks
The debate eventually moved on from attacks centered on Clinton and Trump, with Kaine and Pence turning to foreign affairs and national security. But each continued lobbing attacks at the other in their policy discussions.
[INTERACTIVE: The 2016 election in Arkansas]
On national security, Kaine brought up Trump's frequently flattering comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"He loves dictators," Kaine said. "He's got like a personal Mount Rushmore: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Moammar Gadhafi and Saddam Hussein."
He added, "If you don't know the difference between dictatorship and leadership, then you've got to go back to a fifth-grade civics class."
Pence sought to flip the tables by accusing Kaine's running mate of stoking Russia's belligerence.
"The weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has awakened an aggression in Russia that first appeared in Russia a few years ago," Pence said. "All the while, all we do is fold our arms and say we're not having talks anymore."
Pence went on to call for U.S. military strikes against a key Russian military ally, the regime of Syrian leader Bashar Assad, if Assad's regime threatened to move against a besieged rebel enclave around Aleppo, Syria.
"The provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength," Pence said. "The United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime."
On criminal justice, Kaine argued that "stop and frisk"-style policing, touted by Trump, would be a mistake. Pence argued that Clinton has used police shootings to claim there is "implicit bias" in police departments, and he said the Democrats should "stop seizing on these moments of tragedy."
Kaine quickly shot back: "I can't believe you are defending the position that there's no bias."
On immigration, Pence said Trump would focus first on ending illegal immigration and deporting "criminal aliens."
"Once we have accomplished all of that ... then we'll deal with those that remain," Pence said, while giving no more details. Trump said repeatedly during the GOP primary that he wanted to immediately deport 11 million aliens already in the United States.
Kaine sought to tie Pence to Trump's past statements, saying that "Donald Trump believes in a deportation nation. You've got to pick your choice."
Before that exchange about Trump and immigration, the two running mates had traded attacks about the charitable foundations run by Clinton and Trump.
Pence accused Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, of designing their Clinton Foundation as a way to skirt laws against foreign governments making political contributions.
"While she was secretary of state, the Clinton Foundation accepted tens of millions of dollars from foreign governments, and foreign donors," he said.
"The Clintons figured out a way" around the laws, Pence said, while accusing Clinton of showing favoritism toward foundation donors while she was secretary of state.
Kaine sought to defend the Clinton Foundation by saying that it had done valuable charitable work around the world -- and that Clinton herself had been cleared of any wrongdoing by a State Department inquiry.
Kaine, in turn, attacked Trump's charity -- the Donald J. Trump Foundation -- for giving a prohibited political gift in 2013, when it sent $25,000 to a campaign committee supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican. The Trump Foundation then filed paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service that omitted any mention of that gift, and in its place listed a nonexistent gift to a different group with a similar name.
"The foundation was just fined for illegally contributing foundation dollars to a political campaign," Kaine said. "They tried to hide it by disguising it as somebody else."
Quickly bitter
The two candidates, who both have largely vanilla reputations, emerged bitter throughout the debate's 90 minutes, with both Kaine and Pence often interrupting each other.
"You are Donald Trump's apprentice," Kaine said at one point, implying that Pence had taken on Trump's aggressive persona.
"Senator, you and Hillary Clinton would know a lot about an insult-driven campaign. It really is remarkable," Pence said.
"People at home cannot understand either one of you when you speak over each other," moderator Elaine Quijano said at one point.
Kaine arrived armed with pre-planned zingers that mocked Trump, with varying degrees of zing.
"Do you want a 'You're hired' president under Hillary Clinton, or do you want a 'You're fired' president under Donald Trump," Kaine said.
Pence mocked that: "You used that a lot, and I think your running mate used a lot of pre-planned lines."
Historically, voters have tuned into vice presidential debates to see whether the candidates appear prepared for the presidency should the need arise.
Kaine and Pence are less familiar to most Americans than their running mates. Both vice presidential candidates have spent years in politics, are well-liked by colleagues and are deeply religious, but they're fairly new to the national public's eye.
The nationally televised debate was a spotlight opportunity to introduce themselves to Americans, energize party loyalists and potentially sway the pool of undecided voters.
Ahead of the debate, Trump told a rally in Arizona that the contest would be "a contrast between our campaign of big ideas and bold solutions for tomorrow versus the small and petty Clinton campaign that is totally stuck in the past."
Trump watched the debate from his Las Vegas hotel, live-tweeting the event.
He weighed in with a few short thoughts -- including "Both are looking good! Now we begin!" and then "mike--pence is doing a great job - so far, no contest!"
Clinton, campaigning earlier in the day in Pennsylvania, said she'd been keeping in touch with Kaine over email about his debate preparations.
She added, "I think America is going to be very impressed and really feel positive about Tim Kaine as our next vice president."
Information for this article was contributed by Julie Pace, Thomas Beaumont and Jonathan Lemire of The Associated Press; and by Philip Rucker, Robert Costa, Jenna Johnson, Abby Phillip, Sean Sullivan, John Wagner and David A. Fahrenthold of The Washington Post.
A Section on 10/05/2016