--- title: Mike Pence: 'I Don't Understand' Michelle Obama's Criticism of Donald Trump description: Mike Pence said that he 'does not understand' Michelle Obama's recent criticism of Donald Trump's comments about women. canonical: https://time.com/4531162/mike-pence-michelle-obama-speech-donald-trump/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-14T13:42:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:12:05.204Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mike Pence: 'I Don't Understand' Michelle Obama's Criticism of Donald Trump og:description: Pence also said he believes Trump's denials of the sexual assault allegations og:url: https://time.com/4531162/mike-pence-michelle-obama-speech-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe2ce17ba6e3112/6988a8b2cf40a8ee37c450b7/vice-presidential-debate-tim-kaine-mike-pence-17.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIMEPOL Debate og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mike Pence: 'I Don't Understand' Michelle Obama's Criticism of Donald Trump twitter:description: Pence also said he believes Trump's denials of the sexual assault allegations twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe2ce17ba6e3112/6988a8b2cf40a8ee37c450b7/vice-presidential-debate-tim-kaine-mike-pence-17.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mike Pence: 'I Don't Understand' Michelle Obama's Criticism of Donald Trump  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Oct 14, 2016 1:42 PM UTC  Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence speaks during the vice-presidential debate with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., Oct. 4, 2016. Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence speaks during the vice-presidential debate with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Sen. Tim Kaine at Longwood University in Farmville, Va., Oct. 4, 2016.Patrick Semansky—AP  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Oct 14, 2016 1:42 PM UTC Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said that he ‘does not understand’ Michelle Obama’s recent criticism of Donald Trump’s comments about women. On _CBS This Morning_ Friday, Pence was asked to respond to [the first lady’s assertion](http://motto.time.com/4530580/michelle-obama-donald-trump-comments-sexual-assault/?iid=sr-link8) that the [2005 video](http://time.com/4523526/donald-trump-women-leaked-audio/?iid=sr-link3) leaked of Trump speaking crudely about women “wasn’t just locker-room banter. This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior.” (Obama made that comment in a [searing speech about Trump](http://motto.time.com/4530246/michelle-obama-donald-trump-speech/) she delivered Thursday.) “I don’t understand the basis of her claim,” Pence said Friday. “What he’s made clear is that was talk, regrettable talk on his part, but that there were no actions and he’s [categorically denied](http://time.com/4530339/donald-trump-sexual-assault-media-hillary-clinton/?xid=homepage) these latest unsubstantiated allegations.” **Read More:** [Here’s Everything You Need to Know About the Sexual Allegations Against Donald Trump](http://time.com/4530242/donald-trump-sexual-allegations/?xid=homepage) Pence was also asked if he personally believes Trump’s denials. “I do believe him,” Pence said. “The Donald Trump that I’ve come to know… is someone who has a long record of not only loving his family, lifting his family up, but employing and promoting women in positions of authority in his company.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4531162/mike-pence-michelle-obama-speech-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4531162/mike-pence-michelle-obama-speech-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Mike Pence: 'I Don't Understand' Michelle Obama's Criticism of Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-10-14T13:42:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:12:05.204Z","description":"Pence also said he believes Trump's denials of the sexual assault allegations","url":"https://time.com/4531162/mike-pence-michelle-obama-speech-donald-trump/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Donald Trump","Mike Pence"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe2ce17ba6e3112/6988a8b2cf40a8ee37c450b7/vice-presidential-debate-tim-kaine-mike-pence-17.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebe2ce17ba6e3112/6988a8b2cf40a8ee37c450b7/vice-presidential-debate-tim-kaine-mike-pence-17.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIMEPOL Debate","caption":"Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. 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