President Obama’s top spokesman on Friday lobbed a backhanded compliment at Donald Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence.
“You mean the TPP-supporting, Medicaid-expanding Mike Pence?” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said when asked to react to Trump picking the Indiana governor. “No, I don’t have any comment.
{mosads}Earnest’s comments came after Trump formally announced that Pence would serve as his vice presidential nominee.
One day earlier, the spokesman needled Pence for working with the Obama administration to expand federal health benefits for low-income people in his state.
Pence has earned plaudits for bringing a staunch conservative record to the presumptive GOP nominee’s campaign, an image the White House is seeking to shatter.
Earnest is also looking to exploit major policy areas where Trump and Pence disagree, such as free trade.
He pointed out Pence was a strong supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping Pacific Rim trade agreement negotiated by the Obama administration.
Pence has supported free trade deals with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. He also voted to ratify the Central American Free Trade Agreement as a member of Congress.
Trade means jobs, but trade also means security. The time has come for all of us to urge the swift adoption of the Trans Pacific Partnership
— Governor Mike Pence (@GovPenceIN) September 8, 2014
Trump strongly opposes the TPP and has made protectionism a central tenet of his campaign.
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