Mike Pence doesn't get why everyone is so mad about that Skittles tweet

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 20 September 2016

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence doesn't get the "outrage" over Donald Trump Jr.'s tweet comparing Syrian refugees to Skittles. "It's remarkable to me to see the level of outrage about a metaphor used by Don Jr. when Hillary Clinton is calling for a 550 percent increase in the Syrian refugee program," Pence said in an interview Tuesday with MSNBC's Kelly O'Donnell.

Pence said the response to Donald Jr.'s tweet — which Talking Points Memo reported "used an image that has deep roots in white nationalism and Nazi propaganda" — was yet another example of how political correctness is interfering with substantive discussion. "We simply have to move past this era of political correctness and give our law enforcement community all across this country the tools that they need to be able to do everything in their power, to prevent what happened in Minnesota and in New Jersey and New York from happening on our shores," Pence said, blaming the "environment of political correctness" for preventing officers from using "common sense" tactics, like racial profiling.