Pence says White House could have handled Porter issue better
Vice President Mike Pence says that the White House could have handled the eventual resignation of former staff secretary Rob Porter "better" than it had. In a conversation with Axios' Mike Allen on Wednesday, Pence said the Trump administration has "no tolerance" for domestic violence."
"As I said and as the White House has said, I think the White House could have handled this better, and I still feel that way. That being said, any more counsel I have on this I'll share with president of the United States," said Pence.
When news of the allegations of domestic abuse first came to light, Pence said he became aware of the accusations while he was in South Korea attending the Winter Olympic Games. Pence said he was "appalled" when he learned of the allegations against Porter in an interview with NBC News.
"The time that he resigned was when I first became aware of the allegations of domestic abuse," he told NBC.
Asked if Pence still had confidence in Chief of Staff John Kelly in the wake of Porter's resignation, Pence on Wednesday pointed to Kelly's military service and past post as head of the Department of Homeland Security as reason enough to consider Kelly a "good man."
"John Kelly's service in uniform, his distinguished service at our Department of Homeland Security where we saw dramatic reduction of illegal crossings at our Southern border, and his distinguished service as chief of staff gives me and the president great confidence in this good man," said Pence.
He added, "John Kelly has done a remarkable job as chief of staff for the President of the United States and I look forward to continuing to work with him for many, many months to come."
CBS News learned that Kelly had told the president he would be willing to submit his resignation if the president thought it was a good idea following Porter's resignation. A senior White House official says that at least for now, resignation is unlikely.
Pence's displeasure with the White House's handling of the Porter situation comes in contrast to Kelly's assessment, who told The Wall Street Journal in an interview on Monday that the situation "was all done right."
CBS News' Emily Tillett contributed to this report.
