Well, that was awkward.
Vice President Mike Pence blushed while a pastor denounced President Trump’s “shithole countries” remarks from the pulpit during a service Pence attended, the “New York Daily News” reported on Monday.
Rev. Maurice Watson spoke out against Trump to murmurs of agreement from his congregation. “I stand today as your pastor to vehemently denounce and reject any such characterizations of the nations of Africa and of our brothers and sisters in Haiti,” he said at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Largo, Maryland.
“And I further say: Whoever made such a statement, whoever used such a visceral, disrespectful, dehumanizing adjective to characterize the nations of Africa, whoever said it, is wrong,” said Watson. “And they ought to be held accountable.”
Attendees voiced agreement; some rose to their feet and applauded as Pence blushed, according to people attending the service.
Watson said he was “led by God to do it,” because many of his parishioners were born in the countries Trump belittled.
The controversy known as “Shitgate” or “Shitholegate” raged throughout the weekend. It originated in a bipartisan meeting on an immigration deal, in which President Trump described the Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries” and suggested that fewer immigrants be accepted from those areas and more from Norway, the Washington Post reported. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) confirmed the remarks, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) obliquely backed him up.
The issue is at the crux of a spending bill, which must be approved to avoid a government shutdown by Jan. 19.
Sunday’s incident wasn’t the first time Pence was admonished from the stage while he sat in the audience. At a November 2016 performance of the musical “Hamilton,” the cast delivered an unscripted entreaty for the incoming Trump administration to work on behalf of all Americans. Trump accused the cast of harassing the vice president-elect, while Pence said he wasn’t offended by the remarks.
