Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE's campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said Tuesday that Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence Michael (Mike) Richard PenceGardner signals support for taking up Supreme Court nominee this year Biden leads Trump by 12 points among Catholic voters: poll GOP brushes back charges of hypocrisy in Supreme Court fight MORE, should have called David Duke "deplorable” to avoid negative headlines.



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In an interview with CNN, Conway said that the Republican vice presidential nominee should have called Duke, a former leader in the Ku Klux Klan, "deplorable" during an interview the day before."He should, sure,” Conway said. “So that he doesn't get headlines saying, ‘Mike Pence will not say [David Duke] is deplorable’ and people can get satisfied."Conway then pointed out that Pence made clear in an interview that he did not want Duke’s support.

"[The problem] is this certain obsession about constantly raising issues and raising people that are not part of our campaign that we have said and Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, has said, that we don't want his support."

Pence on Tuesday defended his refusal to call Duke a "deplorable" during a CNN interview Monday night, stating that he doesn't wish to call people names.

"Donald Trump and I have denounced David Duke repeatedly. We have said that we do not want his support and we do not want the support of people who think like him," Pence said during a news conference.

"The simple fact is, I am not in the name-calling business. ... I believe that civility is essential in a vibrant democracy."

--This report was updated at 1:25 p.m.