Throughout the vice presidential debate on Tuesday night, Tim Kaine used the same tactic repeatedly: citing something terrible that Donald Trump has said and asking how Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, could possibly defend such a thing. At one point Pence, who kept his composure throughout, simply replied, “I’m happy to defend him.” The question is: How happy is is Pence, really? Can he look back on the debate as a success after he repeatedly lied in order to run interference for Trump?

Purely on the level of stagecraft, the evening was a win for Pence. The Indiana governor is a much better dissembler than Trump because, as a professional politician, he doesn’t get personally entangled with the issues he’s disputing and instead argues his case with the aplomb of a lawyer. In fact, Pence has enjoyed something of a free ride precisely because the man at the top of the ticket is so outrageous. His own very extreme positions on LGBT rights and gender politics (such as his view that the Disney film Mulan is feminist propaganda) get largely glossed over.

But even though Pence delivered a polished performance, there was one striking similarity with Trump’s earlier debate performance: He told a lot of lies. That’s the position Trump has put him. To defend his party’s nominee, Pence must lie; but to defend his own honor, he must tell the truth—thereby betraying his party’s nominee.

As these examples show, Pence chose the former:

On Trump’s position on nuclear proliferation