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. “We have said that we do not want his support and we don’t want the support of people who think like him”.
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Blitzer, referring to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s comments that half of Trump’s supporters are part of a “basket of deplorables”, asked Pence if Duke, a known Trump supporter, qualified as “deplorable”. “Well, as I’ve told you the last time I was on, I’m not really sure why the media keeps dropping David Duke’s name”, said Pence, seemingly miffed that people kept bringing up the fact that an emboldened Duke had endorsed Trump.
“Absolutely. And that’s exactly why the campaign wants nothing to do with him and we’ve said that a number of times on a number of networks”. Earlier this year, following reports Duke was preparing a Senate bid, the Republican Party of Louisiana called him a “hate-filled fraud” who has “no place in our current conversation”.
Clinton jumped on Pence’s response, tweeting: “If you won’t say the KKK is deplorable, you have no business running the country”.
Pence also said that the GOP ticket has “momentum”, and when asked about its vulnerability with female voters, Pence argued that they are going to come out in large numbers for the GOP. I had a flawless Republican voting record.
After Hillary Clinton dismissed “half” of Donald Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables” over the weekend, Team Make America Great Again embraced the pejorative as a term of pride, branding themselves the Deplorables.
It’s ironic that Pence supports, defends, and is running alongside Trump, yet her claims to not be in the name-calling business.
Republican vice President candidate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, left, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., center, and House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. share a laugh during a news conference following their meeting at the Republican National Headquarters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016.
Ryan, at the press conference, focused on his own proposals for the country, and after meeting Pence, Sen.
‘I doubt you could have a better spokesman for someone than Mike Pence, ‘ Corker said.
Corker said everyone was impressed with how Pence conducted himself.
Last week he admitted that he believed President Obama was born in the USA – a stark contrast to the years of refusals by the GOP nominee to do so, while last month the in governor “strongly” endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in his reelection bid, just a day after Trump refused to do so.
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Pence repeated his comments during a Tuesday news conference on Capitol Hill.
