KING: Vice President Mike Pence picking an interesting fight this hour, in so many words calling the NBA and Nike cowards for not defending protesters in Hong Kong.</s>MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And some of the NBA's biggest players and owners who routinely exercise their freedom to criticize this country lose their voices when it comes to the freedom and rights of the people of China. And siding with the Chinese communist party and silencing free speech, the NBA is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of that authoritarian regime.</s>KING: His own boss, the president, really hasn't stood by those.</s>VIVIAN SALAMA, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: I actually reported a couple of weeks ago that the White House, the president specifically, ordered that all his officials take a measured response to Hong Kong because he didn't want to alienate and ruffle feathers with Beijing. And so it is a little bit ironic that the vice president would say something like that for sure and take a position like that.</s>ZELENY: I mean, without question, the president has -- I can't even think of maybe he said a couple of small things like that, so I'm not sure what the vice president is doing out there perhaps freelancing today.</s>KING: The players who've criticized the president and so that's why he doesn't want to do it. Thanks for joining us on INSIDE POLITICS. Don't go anywhere, a busy news day. Brianna Keilar starts right now. Have a great afternoon.
Pence: NBA Acting Like "Wholly Owned Subsidiary" of China.