Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said Tuesday that Hillary Clinton and her running mate have run a far more negative campaign than he and Donald Trump, despite the frequency with which both campaigns have leveled insults against one another.
“I have to tell you, I was listening to the avalanche of insults coming from Sen. Kaine a minute ago and he says… ours is an insult-driven campaign?” Pence asked incredulously during Tuesday’s vice presidential debate.
“Did you all just hear that? Ours is an insult-driven campaign?” he repeated.
“I mean, to be honest with you, if Donald Trump had said all of the things you just said he said in the way you said he said them, he still wouldn’t have a fraction of the insults that Hillary Clinton leveled when she said that half of our supporters are a basket of deplorables,” Pence charged. “She said they are irredeemable — it’s extraordinary.”
He continued, “Then she leveled one after the other ‘ism’ on millions of Americans who believe we could have a stronger America at home and abroad, who believe we can get this economy moving again, who believe we can end illegal immigration once and for all.”
“So Senator, this insult-driven campaign, that’s small potatoes compared to Hillary Clinton calling half of Donald Trump’s supporters ‘a basket of deplorables,'” Pence said.
Kaine immediately shot back, listing off a number of Trump’s most controversial comments and claiming the Republican presidential nominee has never once apologized for offending Americans.
“Did Donald Trump apologize for calling women ‘slobs,’ ‘pigs,’ ‘disgusting’? Did he apologize for saying African-Americans are living in hell? Did he apologize for saying President Obama wasn’t even a citizen of the United States?” Kaine asked his GOP opponent.
“You will look in vain to see Donald Trump ever taking responsibility and apologizing,” he added.
