Mike Pence on Donald Trump's Twitter use, record-low approval rating
There’s just one day left until President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office, but he still hasn’t stopped his incessant Twitter activity. And, in an interview with “CBS This Morning” co-host Charlie Rose, Vice President-elect Mike Pence thinks that’s okay.
“Are the tweets A-- necessary, B -- distracting, and does he have to tilt at every windmill that criticizes him?” Rose asked Pence, two days before the inauguration.
“You know, I think one of the really refreshing things about the president-elect is that he speaks his mind,” Pence said. “And sometimes he does that from a podium, sometimes he does that in an interview… Sometimes he does it on Twitter.”
“But does it get in the way of his message on the economy, on foreign policy?” Rose asked.
“I don’t believe it does. I really don’t believe it does, Charlie,” Pence said.
“You’re okay with that?” Rose asked.
“Yeah. And I will tell you that… some of the treatment that he’s gotten and that we frankly continue to get by some in the media is frustrating. And his ability to literally reach tens of millions of people-- with his view of a particular issue or a particular news-- I think is of value to the administration,” Pence aid. “I expect him to continue to use that. You’re going to see a President Donald Trump who will… use that bully pulpit in new and 21st century ways to communicate our agenda to the American people and marshal the kind of support to bring real change to Washington, D.C. and restore our economy and our place in the world.”
Mr. Trump will enter office with a record-low approval rating of 32 percent – the lowest since CBS News first polled the question in 1981.
“What kind of challenge is that?” Rose asked. “And at the same time, how important is to double the efforts to reunite?”
“I think the American people are going to see a president inaugurated this Friday who is going to keep the promise he made on election night -- to be president of all of the people in this country,” Pence said. “The polls weren’t always right during the election year and so I’m a little skeptical about the polls going into inauguration. But I can tell you that the president-elect and our whole team are ready to go to work, and to really just advance the kind of policies that, to borrow his phrase, will make America great again.”
Pence also said the president-elect is confident in the team he chose to lead the intelligence community that Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized. Regarding his own role, the vice president-elect said, “I’m just here to serve.”
