On MSNBC Wednesday, Norah O'Donnell asked GOP Representative Mike Pence of Indiana, who is also the chairman of the House Republican Conference, to respond to Rush Limbaugh's comments about how he "hopes Obama fails" and his more inflammatory statements about how "we have to bend over, grab the ankles" because Obama is the "first black president." Earlier in the day, as HuffPost's Sam Stein reported, Pence had tried to delicately walk the line between not renouncing Limbaugh's statements but also not seeming to endorse the popular radio host's statements.
Pence avoided responding directly to O'Donnell's initial and instead offered general praise for the radio host, "I cherish his voice." This wasn't good enough for O'Donnell, who then pressed the issue, repeating Limbaugh's quote, and calling out Pence's refusal to take a stand: "Why don't you feel like you could denounce something like that? Are you so beholden to someone like Rush Limbaugh?"
Watch Pence's response:
