Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager on Tuesday said “everybody understands and believes” the president is a “role model” for the country’s children, a day after GOP Sen. Kelly Ayotte said she “misspoke” when she said Republican nominee Donald Trump qualified as a role model.
“I think he’s broken a lot of the bounds and norms of, I would argue, decency but also of how to conduct a campaign and what to do,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” calling Mr. Trump a “special candidate.”
“We are doing everything we can to talk about the issues, as I’ve said, but there are times where his behavior has been so offensive that it deserves to be called out, and I think everybody understands and believes that the president of the United States is, in addition to being commander-in-chief and the leader of our country, is a role model for our children,” Mr. Mook said.
“And I don’t think any young woman or young man, for that matter, in this country should hear their president saying the kinds of demeaning things that Donald Trump has said about women and about his political opponents,” he said.
Mr. Mook’s comments came after Ms. Ayotte, up for re-election in New Hampshire, said she “misspoke” when she said at a debate Monday evening that she would “absolutely” point to Mr. Trump as a role model.
She said afterward she wouldn’t hold up Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton as role models for her kids.
Earlier on the program, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said it’s the Democratic ticket that doesn’t want to talk about issues.
“Hillary Clinton refuses to talk about issues,” Ms. Conway said. “Tim Kaine out on the stump never talks about issues. They talk about Donald Trump.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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