Welcome to The Lid, your afternoon dose of the 2016 ethos… Ratings for last night’s vice presidential debate were the lowest since 2000, proving that, on the list of “Ways to Get Attention in America,” it looks like “being a vice presidential nominee” still ranks slightly behind “dressing like a creepy clown and hiding in the woods.”
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‘16 from 30,000
The ratings are in! And it looks like… apparently some of y’all had plans OTHER than watching the vice presidential debate last night? A combined 36 million folks or so tuned in across eight Nielsen-measured networks, which makes for the lowest viewership total for a VP debate since 2000. With all due respect to the presidential sidekicks, yesterday’s #realtalk about the vice presidential debates remains the same in the harsh light of day today: For all the hoopla, vice presidential debates are highly unlikely to make a big difference when it comes to the national race. That said, last night’s clash did tee up some interesting questions for both presidential candidates at the next debate, most notably for Trump. Does he agree with Pence on Putin? On Syria? Did Pence accurately describe Trump’s plan for undocumented immigrants? Stay tuned!
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS
- An attorney who oversaw Donald Trump's income tax returns in the mid-1990s said the Republican presidential candidate had little interest in the tax code.
- Mike Pence said Donald Trump was really the winner of the VP debate, NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard reports.
- In the years leading up to his presidential bid, Donald Trump's charitable foundation donated generously to several conservative nonprofits that would later help raise his stature within the movement, NBC’s Jane Timm reports.
- The Atlantic made a rare presidential endorsement backing Hillary Clinton.
- Bill Clinton continued to play clean up over his Obamacare remarks on Wednesday, NBC’s Leigh Ann Caldwell notes.
- And from First Read: Pence helped Pence, and Kaine helped Clinton.
FOR THE RECORD…
“He will gut you. And he will walk over your cold, dead body and he won't even flinch."
- Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan, on Donald Trump
TOMORROW’S SKED
Bernie Sanders campaigns for Hillary Clinton in Michigan.
Tim Kaine makes stops in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas.
Mike Pence campaigns in Pennsylvania.
