No “Thank You Mr. Vice President” — How Pence’s Debate Style Showed The Reality Of Male Privilege

(First published in Forbes on October 8, 2020)

On Wednesday evening, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris (D- CA) participated in the only vice-presidential debate of the 2020 campaign. While the debate was notable for the its civil style, particularly in contrast to last week’s presidential debate, there were no real surprises – other than perhaps a wayward fly. In fact, one thing was utterly unsurprising…

The way Mike Pence used his male privilege in trying to dominate the debate.

To be fair, both candidates equally pivoted from answering direct questions to delivering talking points. Both candidates also tried to deliver memorable one-liners that would make the morning headlines. But in reality, the most memorable line from the evening wasn’t from either the Democratic or Republican candidate. It was from moderator, Susan Page.

Repeatedly during the debate, Page, the Washington Bureau Chief for USA Today, was forced to frequently try and cut off Vice President Pence from speaking when he went over his allotted time. In doing so, Page resorted to the polite, but ultimately futile, phrase…

“Thank you, Mr. Vice President.”

No matter how many times Page repeated the phrase, Pence kept talking. And talking. Only when Page would, herself, speak over the Vice President did he finally pause. In response, Senator Harris was frequently compelled to challenge Page to reclaim some of her time in order to balance out the Vice Presidents overreach. Although CNN clocked the speaking time during the debate at roughly even, it was unmistakable to viewers that Pence tried to dominate the debate stage by over-talking and interrupting.

Neither of which should  at all been surprising to those who have watched male privilege in action, in both the workplace and in society.

In many ways, Pence demonstrated the paragon of male privilege: a sense of entitlement and arrogance as to how the rules shouldn’t apply to him. Both campaigns agreed to the format of the debate, and the timing, yet only one – Senator Harris – followed them. Without being forcefully interrupted, Pence kept talking, and mansplaining, until ultimately, he acquiesced. Perhaps Pence actually thought he was being thanked every time Page tried to interrupt him.

Decades of research show that men are prone to dominate meetings, frequently speaking substantially more than their women colleagues. The pandemic hasn’t altered these trends, with a recent study by Catalyst showing that 45% of women business leaders shared that it’s difficult for women to speak up in virtual meetings. The same study showed that roughly and one in five women also feels overenrolled or under-heard in video conferences. The trends point to the fact that while the physical work environment might be changing, the sense of male entitlement in the workplace remains the same.

That was certainly evident on the debate stage on Wednesday evening. Despite regularly asserting herself and making sure her voice was heard, Senator Harris needed to fight for her extra time, and that is something Vice President Pence didn’t need to do. He steamrolled over the rules, over the moderator, and even the sense of common courtesy. By doing so, Pence didn’t demonstrate leadership; he demonstrated what chauvinism and privilege can look like on a national stage. For that reason, there is only one appropriate comment to be made by the moderator, and all Americans…

“No thank you Mr. Vice President.”