Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday called on the press to give more “respect” to the people it covers, providing a milder version of the often harsh criticism lodged against the mainstream media by President Trump.
“These days, and I say this with the deepest respect … it seems like in this short news cycle in which we live, that too often stories will make page one and drive news with, with just too little respect to the people who are affected or involved,” Pence said at the annual Gridiron Dinner, a lighthearted affair that assembles Washington journalists with the officials they cover. “So let me just say to you as, not as your vice president, but just as a neighbor and as a champion of the [inaudible] that I think, I think we’ve all just gotta do better,” Pence said. “And the way I think we can do better is by focusing on what unites as more often as Americans.”
Pence also offered up plenty of humor.
He joked that Trump asked him to send a message to the press and looked around for it. “‘Be friendly’ – no wait, that’s from my wife,” he said. “‘Remember to pick up some milk on the way home’ – that one is from the president, but it’s not the one I was looking for.”
Pence said he was “offended” that so many of his former colleagues rushed for the exits Tuesday night after the president’s address to Congress, but he said he understood why: “They were racing out because they didn’t want to miss some must-see TV. The dynamic message of a rising star. The future of the Democratic Party. Kentucky’s own former governor, Steve Beshear.”
The 72-year-old Beshear, who gave the Democratic response to Trump’s address, was mocked mercilessly on social media, where some wondered if he was trying to sell them a reverse mortgage.
