WASHINGTON (AP) — GOP White House hopeful Tim Pawlenty is scoffing at claims that he's too "nice" and too "bland" to take the political fight to President Barack Obama.
Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said last week that Pawlenty was "invisible" and that ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs could put his picture on vanilla ice cream.
Pawlenty asked "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace whether O'Reilly was "playing the race card on me." Wallace said he thought O'Reilly was discussing "the taste, not the color."
Then the former Minnesota governor said he had a strong record in running a state, but that "being strong is not the same as being loud."
And Pawlenty said that "if you want the clown in chief, vote for somebody else. That's not me."
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