Utah Sen. Mike Lee, one of a handful of GOP senators who have pointedly refused to endorse Donald Trump, told Trump’s running mate Mike Pence on Tuesday that Republicans must call the views of white supremacist David Duke “deplorable.”
The blunt message, delivered during a private meeting between the two men at the National Republican Senatorial Committee headquarters, came as the GOP vice presidential nominee grappled with his refusal to call Duke “deplorable” — a phrase brought to the forefront last week when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton used the term to describe a swath of Trump supporters.
“Lee emphasized that Republicans must identify David Duke’s racism as deplorable, acknowledging that he ordinarily uses terms like ‘deplorable’ to describe messages, ideas, actions, and organizations, but not people,” Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Lee, said Tuesday.
The Utah senator also pushed the Trump campaign to be “explicit” in denouncing the so-called alt-right movement, Carroll added. The Lee-Pence powwow is one of a handful of private meetings that Pence has scheduled during his whirlwind through Washington on Tuesday; he also huddled with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a former Trump rival who has also declined to endorse the GOP nominee, on Tuesday, according to one Hill Republican aide familiar with the gathering.
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Sen. Mike Lee urges Pence to call David Duke's views 'deplorable' https://t.co/kCL45bofNX
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 13, 2016
This is where we are: one of the most conservative GOP Senators has to remind the VP candidate to deplore the KKK. https://t.co/NB0iVYgKKX
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) September 13, 2016
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