US vice president-elect does not rule out torture

By Kasim Ileri

WASHINGTON (AA) – President-elect Donald Trump will not step back from his proposal to reintroduce waterboarding as a counter-terrorism tactic, his running mate Mike Pence said Sunday.

“We're going to have a president again who will never say what we will never do,” the vice president-elect told CBS News in response to a question on Trump’s waterboarding proposal.

Congress outlawed waterboarding in 2005 but during the presidential campaign, Trump pledged to not only reinstate the notorious torture technique but to implement even harsher methods.

“Don't kid yourself, folks. It works, okay? It works. Only a stupid person would say it doesn't work," Trump told supports last November.

High-ranking Republican lawmaker John McCain blasted Trump on Saturday when asked about Trump’s waterboarding proposal.

“I don't give a damn what the President of the United States wants to do,” McCain said at a forum in Canada. “We will not waterboard. We will not torture ... my God, what does it say about America if we're going to inflict torture on people?”

Pence said he had great respect for McCain but Trump would focus on “confronting and defeating radical Islamic terrorism as a threat to this country.

“The American people should know this is a president who, on day one, Jan. 20, is going to focus on defeating and destroying ISIS at its source and confronting radical Islamic terrorism, so it can no longer threaten our people or inspire violence here in the homeland,” he added.