Deirdre Shesgreen

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — In an interview with to NBC’s Meet the Press, Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said he would release his tax returns next week.

“Donald Trump and I are both going to release our tax returns,” the Indiana governor told NBC’s Chuck Todd in a video clip released by the network Saturday.

But Trump, the Republican presidential nominee and New York real estate mogul, has said he will not release his tax returns because of an ongoing IRS audit. And while Pence told NBC that he would release his returns “in the next week,” he did not give a specific timeline for Trump to do the same.

“Donald Trump will be releasing his tax returns at the completion of an audit,” Pence said.

When Todd noted that the audit is not likely to be finished before the November election, Pence demurred. “Well, we’ll see,” he responded.

Democrat Hillary Clinton released her tax returns earlier this summer, as did her running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.

Since the 1980s, every GOP presidential nominee has disclosed his tax returns, according to PolitiFact. And vice presidential candidates began to follow suit with that practice.

Clinton's campaign has made an issue of Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, suggesting he his hiding something about his finances.

Clinton releases ad focused on Trump's tax returns

Pence suggested earlier this summer that his tax returns would be a "quick read."

“The Pences have not become more wealthy as a result of 16 years in public service,” Pence said in an Aug. 13 radio interview. “There’s been a lot of sacrifices. We’re a middle-class family.”