On Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, President Obama referred to Donald Trump as a “homegrown demagogue.” On Friday, Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, argued that this display of discourtesy was beneath the hallowed office that Obama holds.
“I don’t think name-calling has any place in public life, and I thought that was unfortunate that the president of the United States would use a term like that,” Pence told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday.
One of the central appeals of the Trump-Pence ticket has been its commitment to making American political discourse civil again. While Pence was calling out Obama’s un-presidential epithet, the GOP standard-bearer went on a tweet storm about the importance of remaining polite and generous in discussions of political affairs — no matter how much we may disagree with our interlocutors.
Trump made similar arguments for the virtues of treating one’s political opponents with respect throughout the GOP primary.
