White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Monday defended Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Indianapolis, where he walked out of the NFL game between the Colts and 49ers after players protested by kneeling during the national anthem.
Pence and his wife, Karen, had attended Sunday's game where former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was honored. Pence was a long-time Indiana resident and the governor of Indiana before he became the vice president.
Conway was asked on Fox News about the Pences' decision to walkout, and to travel to and from Indianapolis from the West coast, especially amid criticism from Democrats over the $242,500 cost to taxpayers.
"Let me tell you something, I've known the vice president and Mrs. Pence for a decade, probably 20 years," Conway said. "I worked with them for a decade, including when he was governor. It takes a lot to get that man's blood boiling and to refer to someone who's standing up for the flag and all it represents to hundreds of millions of Americans and all it signals to the world, our veterans, our unity, the founding of our great nation, to call that a political stunt is truly outrageous, egregious and offensive."
Conway further focused on Pence's resolute respect for the flag.
"When Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana, there were many times that he had to receive, go and comfort and console the family of a fallen soldier," Conway said. "He was helping to receive the remains of our brave men and women and those coffins are always draped in a flag, and this is a man who said he doesn't think it's too much to stand."