Indiana Gov. Mike Pence disregarded past tweets by Donald Trump on Chinese pushing climate change as an issue, arguing they were “flippant” and “joking” in nature and not to be taken seriously.

Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show Tuesday morning, Pence was responding to a 2012 tweet from Trump in which said global warming was “created by and for the Chinese” in an effort to cripple U.S. manufacturing, a notion Pence dismissed before changing the subject to jobs. Hillary Clinton brought up the comment during Monday night’s debate, which Trump said he never said.