Vice President Mike Pence, speaking on NBC News Saturday, says he doesn’t see a connection between Donald Trump’s rhetoric and the increase in violence against minorities and democratic opponents of the administration.
“Everyone has their own style, and frankly, people on both sides of the aisle use strong language about our political differences,” said Pence. “But I just don’t think you can connect it to acts or threats of violence.”
He added, “I think we need to be very careful in any way to connect the kind of violent behavior we witnessed in Pittsburgh today, the threats of violence against prominent Americans that we witnessed in the pipe bombs, what happened in Sutherland Springs, Texas, or what happened here in Las Vegas, to the political debate”
Vice president Pence spoke out against the shooting deaths of 11 congregants at a Pittsburg synagogue on Saturday and other recent violent attacks, and tried to strike a tone of unity earlier in the day as he spoke at a Las Vegas campaign stop.
Nevertheless, the Vice President did not suggest any change in tone on the side of the administration, claiming that the harsh rhetoric was simple a part of health political debate.
“We want a free and open political debate in America where everyone expresses themselves passionately and openly,” Pence said.
“The American people believe in the freedom of speech, and throughout the history of this country we’ve always had vigorous debates and then we settle those debates in the ballot box,” the Vice President added. “We don’t settle them through acts or threats of violence like the pipe bombs we saw sent to the Obamas, the Clintons, to CNN and others.
View the complete interview below.
Image via screen capture from video source.