Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Mike Pence, R-Ind., addresses supporters during a campaign event in Carson City, Nev., Monday, Aug. 1. | AP Photo Pence dubious of criticism about Trump's Taiwan call

Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday said he is mystified by the controversy over President-elect Donald Trump accepting a “courtesy call” with Taiwan when President Barack Obama was praised for restoring relations with communist Cuba.

“This was a courtesy call,” Pence said on ABC’s “This Week,” downplaying Trump’s unprecedented conversation with Taiwan's leader, which broke with 35 years of official U.S. policy and risked angering China.


“It's a little mystifying to me that President Obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba in the last year and be hailed as a hero for doing it and President-elect Donald Trump takes a courtesy call from a democratically elected leader in Taiwan and it’s become something of a controversy,” he continued, referring to Obama's efforts to normalize relations with the Castro regime.

Pence said he has taken dozens of phone calls from world leaders since he and Trump won the November election, and Trump, he said, has taken more than 50.

Taiwan “reached out to offer congratulations as leaders around the world have, and he took the call, accepted her congratulations and good wishes, and it was precisely that,” Pence said.

The Indiana governor added that he understands “some of the controversy in the media about this” but argued that “the American people appreciate the fact that our president-elect is taking calls from and reaching out to the world and preparing on Day One to lead America on the world stage.”