President Donald Trump saying it was “low-class” of Vice President Mike Pence and his family to move some of their pets to Washington, D.C., is an unproven claim. A report suggested that Trump referenced the vice president and his family “yokels” for moving their pets from Indiana.
Where did this claim originate? The Atlantic published a profile story on Pence which included an anecdote that allegedly revealed an insult from Trump. Pence’s rabbit, Marlon Bundo, is the subject of its own Instagram account. Their cat, Pickle, died in December 2017.
When it was reported last January that the Pences would be moving some of their family pets — which include two cats, a rabbit, and a snake — into the Naval Observatory, Trump ridiculed the menagerie to his secretary, according to a longtime adviser. “He was embarrassed by it; he thought it was so low class,” says the adviser. “He thinks the Pences are yokels.”
However, Snopes labeled this story as an unproven claim.
There were other allegations in that story such as Pence being concerned about Trump over footage surfacing about sexist comments. However, Pence’s press secretary, Alyssa Farah, denied that claim as well as the one that Pence spoke to the Republican National Committee about stepping in for Pence as the party’s presidential nominee in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. She wrote on Twitter:
Regarding The Atlantic’s tired, false claim about the VP during the campaign — we denied this in the article and deny it again today. Didn’t happen.
Here are some reactions on social media about Trump’s alleged comments about Pence.
Trump hates pets, has never had one and was heard saying that people who kept pets were low class. He was upset when Mike Pence announced he, his wife(mother) and their pet would be moving into their new home. He also uses the words ‘dog’ and ‘pig’ etc. when putting people down.
— Pendulum🏴Swinger (@PendulumSwngr) January 2, 2018
I read that Trump was disgusted when the Pence family brought their pets with them to Washington. He stated that having pets is “low class.” I guess its all that unconditional love they give. Peasants.
— HeadOnFire (@jmitarot) December 30, 2017
Trump thinks pets are “low class” and ripped on Pence for bringing his dogs to the VP residence.
Trump has no compassion and doesn’t deserve a pet, and no animal deserves to be owned by Trump.
— young ma’am (@skullmuffins) December 29, 2017
Despite the claim being based upon an anonymous source, the claim was picked up by other media outlets. Trump’s alleged disgust was picked up by several news outlets who featured pet owners criticizing Trump for allegedly mocking Pence. In October 2017, the New Yorker reported, which cited anonymous sources, that Trump poked fun at Pence for other reasons:
During a meeting with a legal scholar, Trump belittled Pence’s determination to overturn Roe v. Wade. The legal scholar had said that, if the Supreme Court did so, many states would likely legalize abortion on their own. “You see?” Trump asked Pence. “You’ve wasted all this time and energy on it, and it’s not going to end abortion anyway.” When the conversation turned to gay rights, Trump motioned toward Pence and joked, “Don’t ask that guy — he wants to hang them all!”
What did you think of the claim that Trump said it was “low-class” for Pence to bring their pets to Washington D.C.? Have you seen any evidence to suggest that Trump made this statement and if so what were your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comments section.
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