Mike Pence stuck to his usual stump speech, including a section in which he criticizes the media for focusing on some of Donald Trump’s controversial past comments. | AP Photo Pence refuses to respond on Trump's comments The GOP VP nominee dodges reporters asking about Trump making the most aggressive, crude comments about women yet.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Mike Pence took the stage here just over an hour after a tape emerged of Donald Trump crudely bragging about sexually harassing women and pretended as though no such tape existed.

And then, confronted by multiple reporters on the rope line after the speech, he simply ignored repeated questions about his reaction to the tape, first reported by The Washington Post, in which Trump said of women: “Grab them by the pu--y. … You can do anything.”


“How can you ignore this question?” an ABC reporter asked repeatedly, as Pence simply smiled and shook hands.

“Governor, what’s your reaction to the Trump tape?” Pence was asked by POLITICO as he shook hands and an aide whisper over his shoulder. “Governor, The Washington Post report, what is your reaction?”

Pence simply kept shaking hands, moving down the line.

Pence spoke for 37 minutes to a crowd of a few hundred in a high school gymnasium here, but made no mention of the controversial comments.

Not long before taking the stage, Pence had dodged his press pool soon after the news broke.

At the rally, Pence stuck to his usual stump speech, including a section in which he criticizes the media for focusing on some of Trump’s controversial past comments.

“And invariably, they’ll say, this time we got him, right? This time we found that there’s another tweet come out or something,” Pence said. “This time we got another thing, another issue that’s come forward. Then they turn on the television the next morning, and Donald Trump is still standing stronger than ever before and fighting for the American people. And he is going to fight all the way to the White House.”