Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence earned the praise of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke after the former refused to call him "deplorable," as reported by The Hill.
"It's good to see an individual like Pence and others start to reject this absolute controlled media," Duke told BuzzFeed News.
Appearing Monday afternoon on CNN, Pence said he did not believe in name-calling. After Hillary Clinton's "basket of deplorables" remark, anchor Wolf Blitzer asked if he would call Duke "deplorable," Politico reports.
"No, I'm not in the name-calling business, Wolf. You know me better than that," Pence said.
However, Pence clarified that the campaign denounces Duke's support of the GOP ticket. "We don't want the support, and we don't want the support of people who think like him," Pence was quoted as saying.
The announcement did not go well with Duke, who is running for the open Louisiana Senate seat. He condemned the Republican Party for rejecting him and highlighted his commitment to the party.
"The truth is that the Republican Party in Louisiana — I received the vast majority of Republican votes for United States Senator before and for governor before that in my state," Duke said.
"The truth is the Republican Party is big tent. I served in the Republican caucus. I was in the Republican caucus in the legislature. I had a perfect Republican voting record. It's ridiculous that they attack me because of my involvement in that non-violent klan four decades ago," he added.
Clinton triggered a political controversy on Friday after she called half of Trump's supporters "deplorable". According to the CNN, the Democratic nominee went on to express regret for using the word "half."
Shortly after the interview, the Democratic nominee tweeted: