Republican vice president candidate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence speaks at the Republican National Headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016. He is scheduled to address Senate Republicans during a weekly party luncheon Tuesday afternoon. And that’s when Team Trump made a decision to … change the subject.
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“I have no idea why this man keeps coming up”, the IN governor told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference. The vice presidential candidate said the goals of Republican House leaders are “identical” to those of the Trump campaign, especially in the areas of military spending, economic policy and the desire to reverse the “downhill” direction the GOP insists the country is moving in. “I’m not really sure why the media keeps dropping David Duke’s name”, he said.
Pence served six terms in Congress prior to becoming the governor of Indiana. Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers called the meeting “a highlight of this year” and Ryan referred to Pence as a “friend”.
Pence also defended his running mate’s reluctance to release his tax returns, even though Pence himself just released reams of financial data about his own income and tax rates. A white supremacist student leader physically assaulted a protester in Kentucky (Trump rallies are notoriously unsafe for people of color), and analysts have documented an increase in harassment and hate crimes nationwide since Trump began his campaign, including in Milwaukee.
“He vouched for him”, the New York Republican said. Ryan called Trump’s suggestion that a judge hearing a Trump University case could not be impartial because of his Mexican ancestry “the textbook definition of a racist comment” in June.
On Tuesday, following a meeting with House Republicans, Mike Pence reiterated that neither he nor Trump want Duke’s support. 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.
Last week, for example, Pence told reporters he agreed with the GOP nominee’s belief that the Russian strongman was a better leader than President Obama.
After the interview, Duke lauded Pence’s decision to not denounce him. “It was a very good meeting.” Sen.
Pence left the meeting without commenting. Though he didn’t explicitly advocate for a Trump presidency.
“We wish Hillary Clinton well”. What was once as much as a seven point lead for Clinton after the Democratic Convention has fallen to a two point gap, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump’s running mate Mike Pence refused on Tuesday to say whether he thinks white supremacist David Duke is deplorable, repeating that he’s “not in the name-calling business”, as he tried to brush off the issue as a distraction.
On Monday, CNN host Wolf Blitzer – referencing the Clinton campaign’s argument that half of Trump’s supporters belong in a “basket of deplorables” – asked Pence if he considered Duke deplorable. Pence did tell CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he did not want Duke’s support or “the support of people who think like him”.
But Cruz left without answering questions about whether he will vote for Trump, endorse him or whether Pence asked him to publicly back Trump.
“I have no idea why this man keeps coming up”, the IN governor said.
Pence said he was “not going to validate the language Hillary Clinton used to describe the American people”.
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He went on to criticize Clinton’s comments, calling them “shocking”.
