GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence refused Monday to call former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke “deplorable”, ducking the question by saying he’s “not in the name-calling business”. Earlier today, while discussing her “deplorables” quip, he said, “You can’t lead this nation if you have such a low opinion of its citizens”. We don’t want his support and we don’t want the support of people who think like him.
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In an appearance on CNN on Monday, Pence was asked about Duke’s support of his running mate Donald Trump. “People like you.you.and you.’Deplorable, ‘” the narrator says over video of Trump supporters. “She, I’m sure, wishes she had chosen her words better”.
Clinton, who has said she is the candidate to unify a divided country, made the “deplorables” comment at a fundraiser Friday night in NY.
Clinton carefully retracted the offhanded remark in a statement released Saturday, saying it was “wrong” of her to describe half of Trump’s backers the way she did while still pressing the case against his associations and his behavior. She has since said she regretted using the term “half”.
David Duke endorsed Donald Trump, which has brought a lot of criticism to the real estate mogul’s campaign, particularly since he was slow to disavow the endorsement.
Clinton’s campaign quickly hit back, tweeting “If you won’t say the KKK is deplorable, you have no business running the country”. Trump has said that he will not share his until a “routine audit” is completed – and Pence said the Republican nominee has every intention of doing so.
“Everybody knows he was born in the United States”, Blitzer continued.
“After months of hiding from the press, Hillary Clinton has revealed her true thoughts”, Trump said.
Trump said on Fox that he had had a new physical last week and would release the information “when the numbers come in”, noting Clinton’s diagnosis the day before.
“Bill Clinton signed it and Hillary Clinton supported and it’s been perhaps the worst trade deal ever signed, not only in the history of this country but actually in the history of the world there’s never been a deal like this”, he said.
Clinton had used the phrase in reference to any “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic [or] Islamaphobic” Trump supporters.
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“You can not run for president if you have such contempt in your heart for the American voter”, Trump said.
