State of Indiana(WASHINGTON) — GOP vice presidential nominee Mike Pence referred to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke as “that bad man” on Tuesday and refused to call him “deplorable.”
“I’m also not going to validate the language that Hillary Clinton used to describe the American people,” Pence told reporters following a meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill, referring to Clinton’s comment over the weekend that half of Donald Trump supporters were a “basket of deplorable.”
“Hillary Clinton wasn’t talking about that bad man,” he continued. “She was talking about people all across this country who are coming out in record numbers to stand by Donald Trump and to stand with him in his vision to make America great again.”
Clinton has since expressed regret for the comment.
Pence first declined to label Duke as “deplorable” during an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“I’m not in the name-calling business,” Pence responded.
He added that Trump does not “want [Duke’s] support and we do not want the support of people who think like him.”
“The simple fact is that I am not in the name-calling business,” Pence said. “My colleagues in the House of Representatives know that I believe that civility is essential in a vibrant democracy and it’s never been my practice.”
Pence served six terms in Congress prior to becoming the governor of Indiana.
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