On Monday The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer dropped a lengthy warning about the consequences of Mike Pence becoming President of the United States.
Buried deep inside was a revealing nugget, recounting how two sources recalled Donald Trump “joking” that his number two man wanted to kill LGBT Americans.
Per the New Yorker:
Two sources also recalled Trump needling Pence about his views on abortion and homosexuality. 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!”
Despite the ribbing, Trump is said to have a good relationship with Pence — who, critically, is the only person in his orbit who he cannot fire.
Pence, a former governor of Indiana, is known for his deep religious faith and hostility to LGBT rights. An avowed opponent of gay marriage, Pence’s most notable moment while leading Indiana was an entrenched battle over legislation that would allow businesses to discriminate against LGBT people for religious reasons. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act sparked an immediate firestorm, forcing Pence and the legislature to water it down.
“There have been other evangelical Christians in the White House, including Carter and George W. Bush, but Pence’s fundamentalism exceeds theirs,” warned Mayer, who said that if Pence ever took the top spot, he would be far more effective than Trump in advancing the GOP agenda.