The second man at the top of the GOP ticket, Mike Pence, is running further damage control for Team Trump, as he discusses the trouble with Trump and freedom of the press.

In a story from POLITICO this morning:

Speaking to radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday, Pence defended his own history of dealing with the press, saying he authored legislation while in Congress to help protect journalist’s confidential sources.

“We’re going to have those conversations internally and I fully expect in the next 100 days we’re going to continue to be available to the media, whether they’re fair or unfair,” Pence said.

The Trump campaign has blacklisted certain outlets, including POLITICO, The Washington Post, the Huffington Post and others from attending his events due to what he considers unfair coverage. On Friday, CNN’s Chris Cuomo said he is blacklisted from the Trump campaign “because of how we conduct our interviews.”

Pence has his work cut out for him. Trump is thin-skinned and revolts when he feels he’s being treated with anything less than adoration. Pence has been tasked with trying to be the rational, reasonable adult on the ticket. Reigning in Trump’s insanity is a full time job.

“Reporters are part of the game,” Hewitt said. “We shouldn’t ban, Republicans should not be afraid of reporters,” adding later, “It’s an unnecessary diversion.”

None of this is to suggest the media is always fair and unbiased. No one has believed that for years. However, Governor Pence is right. If Trump wants to be seen as a serious leader, he can’t wet his pants every time there’s an unkind story about him in the news.

And he can’t silence the press or any outlet that he doesn’t agree with. That’s dangerous.