PoliticsElections 2016Mike Pencedavid duke

Mike Pence Refuses To Call David Duke 'Deplorable'

The vice presidential candidate said he doesn't want the former KKK grand wizard's support -- but he doesn't want to call him names either.
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By 

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

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MARK RALSTON via Getty Images

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence refused on Monday to say David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, is a “deplorable” supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. 

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer pushed Pence, Trump’s running mate, to respond to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton saying on Friday that half of her rival’s supporters fit into a “basket of deplorables.” 

“There are some supporters of Donald Trump and Mike Pence who ― David Duke, for example, some other white nationalists ― who would fit into that category of deplorables, right?” Blitzer asked.

First, Pence dodged.

“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.” (Trump initially declined several opportunities to distance himself from Duke. White nationalists wrote on hate websites that they interpreted Trump’s behavior as a tacit show of support.)

Blitzer pushed. “Well, you’d call him a deplorable?” he asked Pence.

“No, I’m not in the name-calling business,” the vice-presidential candidate responded, proving that no question is too easy.

“What Hillary Clinton did Friday night was shocking,” Pence continued. “I mean millions of people who support Donald Trump around this country are not a basket of anything ― they are Americans. And they deserve the respect of the Democrat nominee for president of the United States.”

Clinton partially walked back her statement on Saturday, but she was quick to jump on Pence’s bungled conversation with Blitzer.

“If you won’t say the KKK is deplorable, you have no business running the country,” she tweeted Monday.

After the interview, Pence insisted his comments had been misunderstood.

Duke praised Pence’s interview performance later on Monday.  

“It’s good to see an individual like Pence and others start to reject this absolute controlled media,” he told BuzzFeed.

Duke also seems to not mind the title “deplorable.” 

“#BasketofDeplorables,” he wrote in a tweet accompanying a highly edited image showing him, Trump and other prominent Trump supporters standing behind a banner reading, “Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white.”

This article has been updated with additional reactions from Mike Pence and David Duke.

Editor’s Note: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from entering the U.S.

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Before You Go

6 Reasons Mike Pence Is Terrible For LGBTQ People
He has supported LGBT discrimination under the banner of "religious freedom."(01 of06)
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In March 2015, Pence signed Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act (or RFRA) into law, effectively legalizing discrimination against LGBT people across the state. The bill, which Vox called "one of the biggest political crises" of Pence's career, allowed business owners to cite their religious beliefs as justification for turning away LGBT customers.

The bill's passage sparked national controversy, and in the end, was reported to have set the state back $250 million. In April 2015, Pence signed a revised version of the bill into law that included language that explicitly barred businesses from denying services to customers on the basis of categories that include sexual orientation and gender identity. Many LGBT rights advocates remained critical of the revisions, saying that Indiana should have repealed the measure altogether. (credit:CHRIS KEANE / Reuters)
He REALLY opposes same-sex marriage.(02 of06)
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Pence has long been an outspoken opponent of marriage equality, and in floor speeches during his time in Congress, described marriage as being “ordained by God.”

Of the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling that granted same-sex couples the right to tie the knot nationwide, he reportedly said that he said he was disappointed that SCOTUS had “failed to recognize the historic role of the states in setting marriage policy,” but nonetheless noted that he believed “in the rule of law.” (credit:Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)
He's opposed hate crime protections for LGBT people.(03 of06)
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In 2009, Pence was an outspoken opponent of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which officially expanded federal hate crime legislation to include violence directed at members of the LGBT community.

At the time, Pence blasted President Barack Obama for using the measure to “advance a radical social agenda,” according to USA Today, and argued that the law could be used to curb free speech rights. (credit:David Becker / Reuters)
He didn't want "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repealed.(04 of06)
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Pence was no fan of President Obama's decision to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," which banned gay and lesbian people from serving in the armed forces.

In 2010 he told CNN he did not want to see the military become “a backdrop for social experimentation," and said, "We ought to put their interests and the interests of our national security first." (credit:John Sommers II / Reuters)
He opposed Obama's 2016 transgender bathroom directive.(05 of06)
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In May, Pence spoke out against the Obama administration's directive advising public schools to allow trans students to use the bathroom that best corresponds with their gender identity or risk losing federal funding.

“The federal government has not business getting involved in issues of this nature,” Pence said. (credit:Jonathan Ernst / Reuters)
His stance on HIV/AIDS prevention is questionable at best.(06 of06)
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In 2000, Pence suggested that money from a program to help those with HIV/AIDS should be repurposed toward organizations that “provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior,” BuzzFeed reports.

He's also suggested that needle exchange programs, which can be used to help prevent the spread of HIV, encouraged drug use.

Last year, Pence reluctantly allowed for a short-term needle exchange program to be put into place in Indiana following a spike in HIV infections across the state.

"I do not enter into this lightly," he told The Indianapolis Star. "In response to a public health emergency, I'm prepared to make an exception to my long-standing opposition to needle exchange programs." (credit:Andrew Kelly / Reuters)
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