WASHINGTON ― Indiana Governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence declined to comment on whether it was appropriate for Donald Trump’s campaign to work with several men accused of sexual harassment.
Trump’s newest campaign director, Steve Bannon, was accused of sexual harassment in a 1994 lawsuit and charged with domestic violence in 1996. And former Fox News executive Roger Ailes, who was forced out in July amidst allegations of widespread ongoing sexual harassment, is reportedly advising the campaign.
“Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd asked Pence on Sunday about the “troubling allegations” against Bannon and Ailes, and whether he was “comfortable with their involvement in this campaign.”
“Well, I promise you, the person leading Donald Trump’s campaign is Donald Trump,” said Pence. “You know, he and I talk every day, sometimes several times a day. He is a hands-on leader and a hands-on CEO.”
Todd pressed him again, and Pence skirted the question.
“I trust Donald Trump’s judgment to assemble around this team a group that’s going to help us move forward and be successful and win,” he said. “And come on, I mean ― Steve Bannon has denied all of those allegations.”
Todd tried a third time, and got a similar response: “To be honest with you, Chuck, I know these issues, staff issues and internal issues are of great interest in your world. When I’m out campaigning, it’s just not where the American people are focused.”
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther 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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