Mike Pence pressed repeatedly about contacts with Russia during campaign

President-elect Donald Trump stands with Vice President-elect Mike Pence at a news conference at Trump Tower in New York on Jan. 11. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Vice President-elect Mike Pence was press repeatedly on Sunday about whether the Trump campaign had any contacts with Russia during the campaign.

Asked Twice on “Fox News Sunday,” Pence deflected, noting that he joined the campaign in the summer.

"All the contact by the Trump campaign and associates were with the American people," Pence said. "We were fully engaged with taking his message to 'Make America Great Again' all across the country."

Finally, asked by host Chris Wallace on a third try if he had ever asked Donald Trump if there were any contacts in the campaign between Trump or his associates and Russians, Pence answered “of course not.”

“Why would there be any contacts between the campaign” and Russia, he said.

Later, he faced questions on the same topic from CBS's Face The Nation host John Dickerson.

"Just to button up one question, did any advisor or anybody in the Trump campaign have any contact with the Russians who were trying to meddle in the election?" Dickerson asked.

Pence replied "Of course not."

"And I think to suggest that is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy," he added.

“This is all a distraction, and it’s all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election,” Pence said on Fox News. “The American people see right through it.”

Pence also denied that Trump's incoming national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, spoke to Russian officials in December about sanctions that had been announced as retribution for Russian hacking in the election.

“I talked to General Flynn yesterday, and the conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to new U.S. sanctions against Russia and the expulsion of diplomats,” Pence said.

This post has been updated.