Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and her running mate Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said Sunday they will not follow Donald Trump’s example of name-calling and hurling insults at rivals.
CBS “60 Minutes” host Scott Pelley asked the former secretary of state about the Republican nominee’s “Crooked Hillary” nickname for her and what she would refer to him as.
“I don’t call him anything. And I’m not going to engage in that kind of insult-fest that he seems to thrive on. So whatever he says about me, he’s perfectly free to use up his own air time and his own space to do,” Clinton said, in a preview clip that aired on “Face the Nation” Sunday morning.
Vice presidential candidate Kaine jumped in to defend his partner.
“Can I say this? I don’t want to — she’s done a good job of letting the, you know, water go off her back on this. That’s not the way I feel. When I see this, you know, ‘Crooked Hillary’ or I see the ‘Lock her up,’ it’s just ridiculous. It is ridiculous,” Kaine said. “But I just — you know — it is — it is beneath the character of the kind of dialogue we should have. Because we’ve got real serious problems to solve. And look, most of us stopped the name-calling thing at about fifth grade.”
Clinton, after counseling against name calling, shared some thoughts about Trump, terming him “vicious,” “insulting,” “mocking,” inflammatory,” and “demeaning,” while charging he ripped off contractors he worked with.
“The small businesses, the contractors, the workmen and women who he refused to pay after they rendered services. The total disregard that he has shown toward large groups of people in our country. His vicious language against immigrants. His insulting a distinguished federal judge of Mexican heritage. His mocking a person with a disability. His really inflammatory language about Muslims, about American Muslims, about Muslims all over the world. His demeaning comments about women,” Clinton said.
The full interview will air 7 p.m. EST Sunday on CBS.
