Second lady Karen Pence twice rebuffed her husband on election night when he tried to kiss her, according to a book released in June.
“You got what you wanted, Mike. Leave me alone,” she told him, author Tom LoBianco wrote in Piety and Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House.
The New York Times noted the interaction in a book review published Friday.
Karen first declined her husband’s affection when he leaned in to kiss her after then-Republican nominee Donald Trump received a concession call from Hillary Clinton. The future vice president tried again to kiss his wife when they were in their private suite, but “again she told him to back off,” the book says.
LoBianco reported that Karen was “livid” after the release of the Access Hollywood tape in which President Trump bragged about groping women without their consent.
Another book released this summer, American Carnage by Tim Alberta, said Karen was “apoplectic” about Trump’s comments and warned her husband “that she would no longer appear in public if he carried on as Trump’s running mate.”
Ultimately, the Pences came around to remaining on the ticket with Trump after he apologized to both of them. A few hours after the apology, the couple headed back out on the campaign trail to fundraise.
“I told Mike that we knew we were signing up for something unique,” Karen told a campaign aide, according to Piety and Power. “We knew there’d be times he’d say and do things we’d never do. We understood that. All the trepidation about — well, he says things off the cuff — we settled in our hearts before we decided to do this. Obviously, it’s disappointing, but it doesn’t change the mission.”
