President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday dismissed a Friday New York Times report that Trump is increasingly questioning Pence’s loyalty.
Trump, the Times reported, has questioned Pence’s loyalty so often “that he has alarmed some of his advisers.”
Not so, Trump and Pence protested.
“No I don’t question his loyalty at all,” Trump told reporters Saturday morning, according to a pool report. “He is 100 percent loyal.”
He called the Times’ report “phony” and complained that the Times didn’t call him for comment.
But a White House spokesperson, Hogan Gidley, did tell the Times: “The president absolutely supports the vice president and thinks he’s doing an incredible job helping to carry out the mission and policies of this administration.”
Separately, Pence said he was “tempted not to dignify [the Times’ story] with a comment,” according to a pool report sent to reporters early Saturday morning.
“Look, the President and I are very close,” Pence added. “We have a very strong relationship. And I’ve been honored to serve as his vice president. And I was honored when he asked me to run with him again.”
Pence added that he and Trump “had a good laugh,” presumably about the Times report.
