Pence once called Trump’s Muslim ban ‘offensive,’ but now insists it’s been ‘clarified’

Mike Pence hit the morning talk show circuit on Thursday, two days after his steady performance in the vice presidential debate. And just as he did during his face-off with his Democratic rival, Tim Kaine, the Indiana governor deflected questions about Donald Trump’s controversial policies and inflammatory statements.

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Pence was asked to clarify his running mate’s plan to create a deportation force and his proposal to temporarily bar all Muslims entering the United States.

“Well, Donald Trump’s already clarified them,” Pence said. “We have a deportation force in America. It’s called Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And when Donald Trump laid out that plan to end illegal immigration in Arizona, he said, Look, we’re going to build a wall. We’re going to secure the border. We’re going to expand our Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, give them the resources and tools to do the job the law requires them to do. We’re going to get criminal aliens out of the country first. We’re going to get people to leave the country who were supposed to have left because their visas were overstayed. And then we’re going to reform the immigration system.”

Regarding Trump’s proposed Muslim ban, Pence said, the Republican nominee “has clarified that repeatedly.” Trump has actually muddled his policy position from barring all Muslims from entering the U.S. to barring entrants from countries affected by terrorism. Trump has also described his new position as an “expansion” of his earlier ban proposal.

“In the interest of the safety and security of the people of the United States, we are going to suspend immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism,” Pence said. “Countries and regions of the world like Syria, that have literally been overrun by terrorist influence.”

“So, not a ban on all Muslims?” MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough asked.

“Of course not,” Pence replied. “We’re talking about areas of the world and territories of the world and specifically countries that have been so compromised by terrorism that we can’t know for certain who those people are.”

In December, after Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” Pence called the proposal “offensive and unconstitutional.”

When pressed by CNN’s Chris Cuomo on Thursday about why he no longer speaks out against Trump’s ban, Pence said, “Well, because it’s not Donald Trump’s position now.”

“Donald Trump has said in this campaign he has regretted the times he didn’t choose his words well, particularly where it’s created personal pain for people,” Pence argued. “I’m honored to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.”

At a rally in Nevada on Wednesday, Trump praised Pence’s debate performance, and suggested he’s getting “a lot of credit” because he picked the Indiana governor to join him on the Republican presidential ticket.

“Mike Pence won the debate, and I’m getting a lot of credit,” Trump declared. “Last night, America got a chance to look at my judgment. … That was my first hire!”

On the “Today” show, Pence said the real winner of the vice presidential debate was Donald Trump.

“I honestly do believe Donald Trump did win the debate,” Pence said. “It was [his] vision that I was describing.”

Republican leaders are hoping that Trump, who had trouble doing that himself during the first presidential debate against Hillary Clinton, will be able to take a page from Pence during the second one on Sunday.

But on “Fox and Friends,” Pence said he doesn’t think Trump should change a thing.

“I’d encourage Donald Trump to do what he did in his first debate, and that is be himself,” he said. “Speak from his mind and speak from his heart, and I know he’s going to do that.”

The Indiana governor said Sunday night’s town hall format will help the real estate mogul connect better with voters than he did during the first debate.

“He really does a great job, particularly in a town hall setting. I think the reason why you see these enormous crowds rallying around Donald Trump, enormous crowds yesterday out West, is because he’s made a real connection with everyday Americans,” Pence said. “And so my advice for him for Sunday night is what it was before the last debate, and that is, go out, be yourself and share that vision for how we’re going to make America great again. He will have a great night.”