Pence: Trump’s early days are ‘days of action’

Vice President Mike Pence in an interview broadcast early Sunday brushed off criticism of President Donald Trump’s travel ban and its rollout, saying the early days of the new administration will be viewed as “days of action.”

“I think the early days of this administration are gonna be described in the history books as ‘days of action,’” Pence told ABC’s “This Week” when asked if the rollout of the controversial executive order could have been handled better.

“And the American people welcome the decisiveness that President Trump has shown on this issue, putting the safety and security of the American people above the niceties of communicating with people in Washington or in some cases around the world. He acted. He put the safety of the American people first. And I think this, that’s the kinda leadership the American people want to see.”

{mosads}Trump on Jan. 27 signed an executive order that imposed a 90-day ban on nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries entering the United States. The seven countries are Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Syria.

The order also called for a 120-day halt on admitting refugees and an indefinite halt on admitting refugees from war-torn Syria.

Pence in the ABC interview insisted the new administration has to “do things differently,” echoing an argument made by Trump officials that the previous administration had “identified these seven countries repeatedly as seven countries that have been compromised by terrorism.”

The Obama administration flagged the seven countries as “countries of concern,” which put in place restrictions on the Visa Waiver Program for nationals who had traveled to the countries after March 1, 2011.