Emmer refuses to denounce Trump’s ‘mentally disabled’ insult towards Harris

A Minnesota congressman is attracting attention over his contentious appearance on ABC's "This Week" Sunday morning.

Rep. Tom Emmer, a Republican who represents the state's 6th District, was asked by reporter Martha Raddatz whether he approved of former President Donald Trump's most recent insults toward Vice President Kamala Harris.

"Joe Biden became mentally impaired," Trump said during a rally in Wisconsin Saturday. "Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country."

Emmer, a vocal supporter of Trump, ducked the question:

"I think Kamala Harris is the wrong choice for America," Emmer answered, proceeding to criticize the economy under the Biden Administration.

When Raddatz pressed him again on whether he approves of Trump calling Harris "mentally disabled, mentally impaired," he refused to answer again — responding, "I think we should stick to the issues."

"The issues are, Donald Trump fixed it once," Emmer said. "They broke it. He's going to fix it again. That... those are the issues."

Raddatz then changed the subject to the false claims that Haitian immigrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, which Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, have both spread at rallies and on social media.

Emmer called the story a "distraction" before returning to issues like the economy and the border.

Raddatz also asked about the upcoming vice-presidential debate between Vance and Gov. Tim Walz — which is scheduled for Tuesday night — as Emmer played Walz in Vance's debate prep.

"I spent the last month just going back, all of his old stuff to get his phrases down, his mannerisms, that sort of thing," Emmer told Raddatz. "My job was to be able to play Tim Walz so J.D. Vance know what he's going to see.