'Me me me me me me me': Twitter skewers Mike Pence for trivializing Brooklyn Subway shooting
Former United States Vice President, homophobic Christian fundamentalist, and foredoomed contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination Mike Pence delivered a speech at the University of Virginia’s chapter of the Young America’s Foundation on Tuesday. In the first few minutes of the nearly hour-long address, Pence lied about education and declared himself a victim of high gas prices while "praying" for the survivors of yesterday morning's mass shooting inside a New York City Subway car in Brooklyn.
Pence – who in 2015 triggered an HIV outbreak during his single term as governor of Indiana because he refused to fund local needle exchange programs – railed against the teaching of history and argued that students should be indoctrinated into the right-wing's nationalistic vision of the future.
That agenda includes imposing "traditional values" – the conservative default rationalization for bigotry – onto impressionable young minds.
“As freedom comes under attack in our schools, it’s imperative that the next generation ensures the advancement of pro-America ideas, and I’m excited to partner with Young America’s Foundation to take the case for freedom, free markets, and traditional values to the rising generation and to ensure the torch of freedom shines bright for generations to come,” Pence said.
Pence then touted his failed business acumen by alluding to his family's defunct chain of gas stations – which upon collapsing in the early 2000s unleashed ecological devastation across three states that cost taxpayers millions of dollars to clean up – as a self-serving segue into how he, a millionaire with a healthy public pension for life, is suffering due to high fuel prices.
But the ex-veep first threw in a nugget that reaffirmed that he is a caricature of a good Christian.
Pence offered what he deemed a prayer for those affected by the Brooklyn Subway shooting. It was, however, a shallow swipe at Democrats at best and at worst an insult to victims of gun violence and the challenges that working-class Americans face every day.
"Violent criminals are given virtual free range in some of our largest cities," Pence, a staunch opposer of firearm control, proclaimed. "Our hearts broke this morning with the headline of terrible violence that took place in the Subway in New York. Our prayers are with the injured."
Then came the non-sequitur that Pence wielded to mock public transportation and pretend to be just a regular dude struggling to make ends meet.
"One of the advantages of being VP is I get to drive my own car again," Pence mewled, forgetting that he is no longer the vice president. "One of the disadvantages is I get to pay for my own gas."
Watch below:
Pence: Our hearts broke this morning with the headline of terrible violence that took place in the subway in NY. Our prayers are with the injured. One of the advantages of being VP is I get to drive my own car again. One of disadvantages is I get to pay for my own gas.pic.twitter.com/czjOuiaKoR— Acyn (@Acyn) 1649806530
Pence's detached rhetoric sparked a firestorm on social media, and the Twitterverse unleashed absolute Hell.
Weird segue.— DEMOCRACYWINS?\ud83e\udd7a (@DEMOCRACYWINS?\ud83e\udd7a) 1649811324
Weird flex, but ok.— Baroness Becky Bunzy, Co-CEO Execubetch\u2122\ufe0f Power (@Baroness Becky Bunzy, Co-CEO Execubetch\u2122\ufe0f Power) 1649806574
@i81b4i8uicu812 your VP sure is a real for the people person.— Shamblin\u2019sRevenge (@Shamblin\u2019sRevenge) 1649808260
He worked all night on that tone def zing— RobertCalifornia\u26a1\ufe0f\ud83c\udf0a\ud83e\udd18\ud83c\udffb\ud83c\udf34 (@RobertCalifornia\u26a1\ufe0f\ud83c\udf0a\ud83e\udd18\ud83c\udffb\ud83c\udf34) 1649806625
Boy, you can tell they were up til the wee hours of the morning to come up with THAT one— Terraformer (@Terraformer) 1649812106
That dig about gas prices was really classy Pence. As was your comment about driving your own car. Just what people who experienced a mass shooting event want to hear... \nIn case it wasn\u2019t obvious, that was sarcasm. How much more self involved and out of touch can you be?— Amy Brewster (@Amy Brewster) 1649826911
I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m down with the way he\u2019s stumping for mass transit;\nand I\u2019m not sure his pain at the pump is something \u201cPutin doesn\u2019t want to hear\u201d; but, yes, he is horribly off key— Mark Currie (@Mark Currie) 1649852586
"Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, anyway here's a joke about me driving my own car again because they were on a subway."— 999FunnyUsername000 (@999FunnyUsername000) 1649809125
Translation: "I want to take this opportunity to repeat the ludicrous #SalesPitch and make a political point while showing I couldn't give a toss about anyone else - and, oh, I may be applying to be the 2nd worst president in US history."— AcceptThe\ud83d\ude37Person\ud83d\ude37RichWiltshir\ud83c\udf83 (@AcceptThe\ud83d\ude37Person\ud83d\ude37RichWiltshir\ud83c\udf83) 1649837637
Wait, did he just low-key blame the victims for having to take public transportation?— Democrates, Esteemed Philosopher (@Democrates, Esteemed Philosopher) 1649806833
Mikey: thoughts and prayers \n\n(Deep Breath)\n\nMikey: attack biden— CommonSense \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udf3b (@CommonSense \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udf3b) 1649807771
His heart is broken by the high gas prices, not the shooting.— Rather Notsay (@Rather Notsay) 1649807784
The O M G and W T F letters on my keyboard are getting so much use these days, I\u2019m going to have to buy a new one— Bikebabe \ud83c\udf3b\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf3b (@Bikebabe \ud83c\udf3b\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b\ud83c\udf3b\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf3b) 1649808881
And that he has to pay for it now, bc as VP- we paid for it!— funpo (@funpo) 1649807910
Dear @Mike_Pence you can afford the gas, so stop complaining about something you definitely know the President doesn't control. Republicans let OPEC set the prices for all sources of gas per barrel, it should be Free Market Prices, Competition lowers prices doesn't raise them.— Jeffrey Dexter Owen (@Jeffrey Dexter Owen) 1649843714
one other advantage of being VP is he gets an $85,000 paycheck every year, for doing nothing, for the rest of his life.\nhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2019/07/18/how-mike-pence-became-a-millionaire-from-government-pensions/?sh=49b438674835\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/SXdg2xbREr— sweetleaf says: abolish the Electoral College (@sweetleaf says: abolish the Electoral College) 1649806845
The charisma of a potted plant.— Paul \ud83d\udc7b (@Paul \ud83d\udc7b) 1649808176
\u201cOur prayers are with the injured.\u201d\nThen stop.\nNo need for a joke about gas prices.— Jill Trottier (@Jill Trottier) 1649853611
This man was close to being hung on J6 and this is what he\u2019s doing. Just incomprehensible.— CJ \ud83d\uddfd\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@CJ \ud83d\uddfd\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1649813025
So unchristian of him— janis fulks (@janis fulks) 1649807563
So\u2026. Our prayers are with the injured but thank God it wasn\u2019t me, I can drive again, me me me me me me me— Concetta (@Concetta) 1649817793
Too bad he can\u2019t come up with a segue as smooth as his brain— Jamie G (@Jamie G) 1649825267
Hope he\u2019s not driving stick because that was one hell of a messy gear change— Tim Mountford (@Tim Mountford) 1649862055
This asshole really thinks he\u2019s going to be President.— Julia Bricklin (@Julia Bricklin) 1649806835
Watch Pence's full remarks below via C-SPAN:
