Donald Trump was put on trial in his absence during the vice-presidential debate as his running mate Mike Pence was accused of trying to defend the indefensible.

Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine used Tuesday night’s face-off to attack Trump’s record throughout the contest.

Pence gave a polished performance that could have given some hope toRepublicans but he was repeatedly forced on the back foot by a brutal catalogue of Trump’s actions and words.

“Six times tonight I have said to governor Pence, I can’t imagine how you defend your running mate’s position,” Kaine said. “He is asking everybody to vote for somebody that he cannot defend.”

Pence remained steady under fire during the only vice-presidential debate of the campaign, but, after repeatedly being pressed, awkwardly told Kaine: “You whipped out that Mexican thing again,” after the Democrat relentlessly brought up Trump’s comments, made when he announced his candidacy, that the Mexican government was deliberately sending rapists into the United States. “Can you defend it?” Kaine demanded.

Kaine attacked the Trump record on issues ranging from tax, nuclear weapons and Senator John McCain’s war service to his description of women as “slobs” and “pigs”, his suggestion that women who have abortions should be punished and his questioning of Barack Obama’s birthplace.

Referring to Trump’s past praise for dictators, Kaine said: “He’s got a personal Mount Rushmore: Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un, Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein.”

Mostly Pence flatly denied that Trump had made controversial statements and, instead of defending the candidate, resorted to the strategy of gaslighting, by repeatedly challenging known facts to manipulate the truth.

He claimed Trump’s past remarks were “small potatoes” compared to Clinton’s infamous comment when she described half of Trump supporters as “a basket full of deplorables”.

The debate in Farmville, Virginia, with the candidates sitting at a table rather than standing at lecterns, was not expected to have a major impact on the presidential race, though Trump himself could not resist providing a live commentary via Twitter. He claimed: “Mike Pence won big. We should all be proud of Mike!”

Pence started strongly and looked directly into the camera in a way that the Democratic running mate Kaine did not. After a bewildering political year that has shaken the Republican party, Pence, a 12-year congressman and Indiana governor came over as a somewhat authentic voice of conservatism who may be consoling and energizing for party members who find Trump distasteful.

He attacked Clinton’s record as secretary of state, arguing: “We see entire portions of the world, particularly the wider Middle East, literally spinning out of control.” He cited the crisis in Syria and a newly emboldened Russia following a failed Clinton “reset”.

Referring to Clinton’s use of a private email server at her home, Pence, referencing the fact that he and Kaine both have sons who are US marines, remarked: “If your son or my son handled classified information the way Hillary Clinton did, they’d be court martialed.”

Seeking to play the role of Clinton attack dog, Kaine interrupted several times, perhaps a little too zealously. He delivered some evidently rehearsed lines, telling Pence: “You are Donald Trump’s apprentice,” and asking: “Do you want a ‘you’re hired’ president in Hillary Clinton or do you want a ‘you’re fired’ president in Donald Trump?”

Pence, who remained composed in manner and voice, a contrast to the thin-skinned Trump, responded: “You use that a whole lot. And I think your running mate used a lot of pre-done lines.”