Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence tells State of the Union host Jake Tapper that the Democrats' accusations of racism against Donald Trump "sound desperate."

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence on Sunday criticized Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton for her attacks linking Republican nominee Donald Trump with the alt-right movement.

"I think Sen. [Tim] Kaine's [D-Va.] comments, Hillary Clinton's comments on Thursday night sound desperate to me," Pence, Trump's running mate, said on CNN's "State of the Union."

"The fact that you see Democrats and Hillary Clinton and her running mate rolling out the same old playbook of racial divisiveness sounds a little bit to me like an act of desperation."

Clinton gave a speech last week that tied Trump to the alt-right movement, a sect of hardcore conservatism often associated with white nationalism.

Last week, Kaine, Clinton's running mate, tied Trump's values to those of the Ku Klux Klan, saying the GOP nominee's values are not American values.

"The American people are sick and tired of politicians who seek to divide the people of this country to unite their supporters," Pence said Sunday.

Tapper did push back at the notion that the accusations by Kaine are unfounded.

TAPPER: With all due respect sir, the reason that Tim Kaine said what he said is because David Duke is supporting your campaign. Take a listen. […] That must really bother you.

PENCE: That does really bother me and Donald Trump made it clear repeatedly this week that not only does he denounce David Duke but we don't want the support of people who think like David Duke.

Tapper didn't ask him how that squares with the Steve Bannon hire.