March 16, 2019
Warren, Buttigieg Address Pence's 'Decent Guy' Status
READ TIME: 3 MIN.
Mike Pence's views on LGBTQ issues have been well-known,
He also opposed LGBTQ inclusion in the military and anti-LGBTQ discrimination legislation, and signed
"Pence's apparent demise, moreover, came after his careful plans to position himself to run for president in 2016 went awry via his clumsy handling of a signature "religious liberty" bill and a fatal underestimation of the resulting backlash from the business community,"
While his views are well-known, they came in the forefront in recent weeks, most recently when the out Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar brought his partner Matt to meet Pence for a breakfast at the Vice President's residence this week and spoke of issues involving being out and in politics in comments. On Twitter, Pence addressed Varadkar's visits with photos, but didn't mention meeting Matt or post any pictures of the Varadkar and his boyfriend.
While Varadkar did
Pence's LGBTQ views have been getting renewed attention this week when two Democratic presidential candidates (both announced and not announced) addressed those views. They came in response to former VP Joe Biden's comments last month when he called Pence "a decent guy."
"Biden, considered a front-runner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination even though he has yet to announce whether he will run, received backlash over his warm words for Pence from LGBTQ activist and former New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon," "A day after his statement, Biden clarified his remarks, saying that he meant them in a " foreign="" policy="" context'="" and="" that="" 'there="" is="" nothing="" decent="" about="" being="" anti-LGBTQ="" rights.'"
There is no such nuance in responses from Presidential candidate Senator Elizabeth Warren.
"Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Wednesday that Vice President Mike Pence is "not an honorable person," a sharply different characterization than the one former Vice President Joe Biden offered last month.
"During an interview on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe,' Warren (D-Mass.) responded with a flat 'no' when asked whether she believes Pence is an honorable man, slamming his historic opposition to same-sex marriage and other gay rights issues," writes Politico.
"'Anyone who engages in the kind of homophobia and attacks on people who are different from himself is not an honorable person,' she added. 'That's not what honorable people do.'"
Watch Elizabeth Warren on Morning Joe, March 13, 2019:
Presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg also made headlines this week when asked about Pence.
Also at SXSW, he addressed Biden's comment
"Pete Buttigieg, the South Bend, Indiana, mayor who is running for president, understands how Joe Biden might think Vice President Mike Pence is a 'decent guy.' But he believes that Pence's demeanor is covering up something else.
"'I mean to your face, if he were sitting right here, you'd think that this guy is very polite,' Buttigieg told BuzzFeed News' "Profile" of Pence after being asked about Biden's comments in an interview filmed from SXSW last weekend. 'But that masks this absolutely fanatical view about how the world works or how the universe works that has led to these incredibly hurtful, dangerous, and harmful policies, and that's what we have now in the White House. And I think it chills a lot of us, especially in the LGBTQ community, to see that somebody like that can be in that kind of position of power.'"
