Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is confident Hillary Clinton will perform well Monday evening at the first presidential debate, and he thinks the fact that Donald Trump hasn’t faced a 2016 opponent one-on-one plays to the Democratic ticket’s advantage.
“It’s a high stakes night, but I tell you: Hillary is going to do very well because she’s going to just lay out the vision, this positive vision for our country and she’s going to talk about plans,” the Democratic vice presidential candidate said at a campaign stop Monday in Lakeland, Fla.
The first presidential debate, which is being held at Hofstra University in New York, is scheduled to run for 90 minutes. There will be no bathroom or commercial breaks.
Trump participated in numerous debates during the GOP primary, so he’s no stranger to the forum. However, unlike the GOP primary, Trump will be facing off against a single opponent Monday evening, and the Clinton campaign believes this works to their advantage.
“The thing about 90 minutes is, boy, you can’t hide. Now Donald Trump likes to say, you know, ‘I’m going to build this wall, but then I’m not taking any questions on it.’ Well, okay, you got 90 minutes, and there’s just the moderator and the two of you on stage. You can run, but you can’t hide. So we’re going to see tonight about Donald Trump,” Kaine told supporters Monday. “Can he give any details about anything?”
“Can he answer questions like where is your tax return?” Kaine asked.
The Virginia senator is scheduled to debate Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, next week.
“Today starts the closing stretch of the campaign with the debate tonight,” Kaine said Monday. “You know, I’m real interested in this debate. I’m going to be on the very edge of my seat, taking notes because I got to prep for debate next week.”
“So I’m going to be doing — while most of you guys, you know, applauding or yelling, I’m going to be taking notes and, like, doing homework tonight,” he said.
