Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence declared David Duke a “bad man” after Capitol Hill press questioned him for a second day in a row about whether his campaign would distance itself from the white supremicist.
Pence also called Hillary Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” description of Donald Trump supporters “a catastrophic insult to the American people” that disqualifies Clinton from the presidency.
Pence, the governor of Indiana, spoke to reporters following an hour-long private meeting with House GOP lawmakers, with whom he served for a dozen years.
Reporters immediately and repeatedly asked what Pence thinks of Duke, following up on a social media storm after Pence declined to call Duke “deplorable” in a Fox News interview Monday.
“I have denounced David Duke repeatedly,” Pence said. “We said we do not want his support or the support of people who think like him. Yesterday, I was asked a question about that and I repeated it.”
Pence defended not using “deplorable” when describing Duke during the Fox interview, telling reporters, “I’m not in the name-calling business.”
Pence said Clinton’s “basket of deplorables” comment should be getting more attention than his feelings about Duke.
“She said half of the people supporting Donald Trump were irredeemable and were not Americans,” Pence said. “I’ve never heard a major party candidate speak about the American people in such terms.
“The people supporting this campaign are hard-working Americans who come out to our rallies, town halls, stop us in diners and visit us in meetings and factories. Anyone who has that low an opinion of the American people should never serve as president of the United States of America.”
