Mike Pence tried to get GOP leaders to denounce Clinton's 'deplorables' comment, got no takers

Mike Pence tries to rally Republican support on Capitol Hill

(Image credit: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was on Capitol Hill, acting as an emissary for running mate Donald Trump to rally support from congressional Republicans for the GOP presidential ticket. Many elected Republicans have expressed skepticism of Trump, or are concerned that he will make their own re-election fights harder, and Pence did not appear to have much luck winning over holdouts. He denounced Hillary Clinton's comments that some of Trump's supporters fit in a "basket of deplorables," but, The New York Times notes, "in separate news conferences, House and Senate Republican leaders declined to join Mr. Pence... in rebuking Mrs. Clinton over her remark."

At a press conference with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Pence again declined to call former KKK grand wizard and Trump supporter David Duke "deplorable," saying testily that he and Trump don't want Duke's support or "the support of people who think like him," repeating that he's "not in the name-calling business" and won't "validate the language that Hillary Clinton used," and arguing that when Clinton said "deplorables" she "was not talking about that bad man."

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Ryan, at the press conference, focused on his own proposals for the country, and after meeting Pence, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) said through spokesman Conn Carroll that he told Pence he and Trump need to denounce the alt-right movement more forcefully and "that Republicans must identify David Duke's racism as deplorable." Neither Lee nor Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whom Pence also met with Tuesday, have endorsed Trump.

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Generally, The New York Times reports, Pence was greeted warmly by his congressional colleagues, and when Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) chided Pence and Trump for embracing "thug and a butcher" Vladimir Putin — according to a GOP official at the meeting — Pence reportedly insisted that he and the GOP presidential nominee were trying to belittle President Obama rather than praise the Russian president. Pence also assured colleagues, The Times says, that "Trump behaved differently in private, and even had a spiritual side."

At The Washington Post, columnist Dana Milbank judged it an "awkward" trip to Capitol Hill for Pence: "I've always thought him an honorable and amiable man, and I accept his friends' assessment that he took the job in hopes of changing Trump. Instead, it seems that Trump has changed him."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.