Monday night's presidential debate featured an "avalanche of insults by Hillary Clinton," which allowed Donald Trump to show the temperament and restraint voters expect in a potential commander in chief, GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said Tuesday morning.
"I was seated in the front row, [and] it was one line after another leveling personal attacks at Donald Trump," Pence, also the governor of Indiana, told NBC's "Today" show.
"For the president of the United States, that person has to have the temperament, they have to have restraint to deal with a wider world and challenges facing the American people, and I couldn't have been more proud of Donald Trump."
The debate allowed Americans to see "what crowds of tens of thousands are seeing across the country, and that's someone that speaks straight from his mind and straight from his heart," Pence said.
"Quite a contrast to Hillary Clinton, who spent two-to-one the amount of time attacking my running mate than she did talking about her plan."
Pence also addressed Trump's position on climate change, saying the candidate believes the "hoax is some bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., think they can change the climate of the Earth."
"The other piece of this is Donald Trump and I both know that Hillary Clinton's plans and Barack Obama's plans on climate change are going to continue to cost millions of American jobs," Pence said.
"The big win last night for Donald Trump is that he really focused on jobs. He focused on not the tax increases that Hillary Clinton is advocating, but tax relief for working families, small businesses, family farms, making America more competitive and that means pushing back on this radical climate change agenda that Hillary Clinton wants to advance."
Pence, also on ABC's "Good Morning America," told that program Trump also made his positions more clear on the birther issue Monday night.
"Donald Trump has been focused on a stronger America at home and abroad," Pence said, and blamed the media for keeping the issue alive.
He said he also has been disappointed moderator Lester Holt did not discuss many issues "that have been in the forefront of Hillary Clinton's candidacy."
Meanwhile, Pence told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" he remembers when Democrats attempted to demean Ronald Reagan's tax cut plans, but Clinton "literally said on national television that she wants to raise taxes. She wants to grow government . . . Donald Trump, for his part, talked about our plan to lower taxes on working families, small businesses and family farms. To have stronger and smarter trade deals. To repeal Obamacare and end war on coal."
Pence said in the next debate, a discussion on Benghazi should come up, as "the American people want the truth on that, as well as the Clinton Foundation and more."
But at the same time, "I just couldn't be more proud of the job that Donald Trump did," Pence said. "Walking in front of 100 million people, standing on the opposite side of the stage, of a well-rehearsed, scripted, 30-year career politician and being able to deliver that authentic message he delivered last night. I thought he had a great night."