“I’m not really sure why the media keeps dropping David Duke’s name,” Mike Pence said. | AP Photo
Pence declines to call David Duke 'deplorable'
Mike Pence declined to call former Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke “deplorable” in an interview on Monday, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he’s “not in the name-calling business.”
Pence was criticizing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for saying “half” of Donald Trump’s supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables” when Blitzer noted that the campaign has attracted some support from white nationalists, including Duke.
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“I’m not really sure why the media keeps dropping David Duke’s name,” Pence said. “Donald Trump has denounced David Duke repeatedly, we don’t want his support and we don’t want the support of people who think like him.
“You would call him a ‘deplorable?'” Blitzer asked.
“No, I’m not in the name-calling business Wolf. You know me better than that,” Pence said. “What Hillary Clinton did Friday night is shocking.”