David Duke Thanks Mike Pence For Not Calling Him ‘Deplorable’ in Interview

After Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence declined to call former Klan leader and white supremacist David Duke “deplorable” Monday, Duke weighed in to express his approval.

“I’m not in the name-calling business…” Pence told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “You know me better than that.” Pence did denounce Duke elsewhere in the interview, saying “We don’t want the support, and we don’t want the support of people who think like him.”

Still, Duke appreciated it. “It’s good to see an individual like Pence and others start to reject this absolute controlled media,” he told Buzzfeed.

“The truth is the Republican Party is big tent. I served in the Republican caucus. I was in the Republican caucus in the legislature,” Duke continued. “I had a perfect Republican voting record. It’s ridiculous that they attack me because of my involvement in that nonviolent Klan four decades ago.”

[Image via screengrab]

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