Monday, at the first White House press briefing of the new year in answering a question about the controversy over Rep. Steve Scalise’s (R-LA) speech to a white supremacist group 12 years ago, press secretary Josh Earnest said though the president believes it is “ultimately their decision to make,” it puts into question the “values” of Republicans if they choose “David Duke without the baggage” [Scalise] as part of their caucus’ leadership.
“Who they choose to serve in their leadership says a lot about who they are, what their values are,” Earnest said. “Mr. Scalise reportedly described himself as David Duke without the baggage, so it will be up to Republicans to decide what that says about their conference.”
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