Whoopi Goldberg has compared US Vice President Mike Pence to a Nazi in a row over LGBT rights.
Pence, who is heading the US delegation to the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, has had a protracted spat with gay athletes this month.
When gay figure skater Adam Rippon challenged the Vice President’s concerning stances on LGBT equality, Pence put out a statement suggesting that the athlete had misled the public.
And freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy, who has been at the forefront of the US delegation’s publicity campaign, also said that Pence’s presence will send a negative message.
Rippon, who picked up a bronze medal during the team figure skating event, has so far spurned meetings with Pence in South Korea – and says he will also skip a White House reception for athletes.
The issue was discussed this week on talk show The View – and Whoopi Goldberg made her opinions clear.
Goldberg said: “A past controversy of his has come back to bite [Pence] on the face.
“Should [Rippon] sit down to talk with this gentleman who doesn’t even sort of recognize him as a person?”
Reading Pence’s record, she added: “He says keeping gays from marrying was an enforcement of God’s idea. In 2006 he said gay couples signal societal collapse, and in 2007 he opposed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ folks. He didn’t believe the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was good, and he rejected the Obama administration directive on transgender bathrooms.
“I think it would be like asking a Jewish person to sit down and understand where the Nazi is coming from.
“I think that would be a difficult thing.”
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In recent tweets, Pence branded his record “fake news” and a “nonstory”.
He said: “Headed to the Olympics to cheer on #TeamUSA. One reporter trying to distort 18 yr old nonstory to sow seeds of division. We won’t let that happen! #FAKENEWS. Our athletes are the best in the world and we are for ALL of them! #TEAMUSA”.
Tweeting at Rippon he added: “I want you to know we are FOR YOU. Don’t let fake news distract you. I am proud of you and ALL OF OUR GREAT athletes and my only hope for you and all of #TeamUSA is to bring home the gold. Go get ‘em!”
But while Pence may be playing a moderate as a question mark dangles over the future of Trump’s Presidency, his extreme anti-LGBT record is far from made up.
A hardline evangelical who has not supported a single LGBT reform across nearly two decades in politics, VP Pence has one of the worst records on equality of any President or Vice President in recent memory.
Pence previously suggested that HIV prevention funding be drained in order to fund state-sponsored ‘gay cure’ therapy.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (Photo by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images)On a 2000 Congressional campaign website, he wrote: “Congress should support the reauthorization of the [HIV funding] Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organisations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviours that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behaviour.”
While serving as Governor of Indiana, Pence stirred up international outrage in 2015 when he signed Indiana’s controversial ‘Religious Freedom Restoration Act’, giving businesses the right to discriminate against gay people on the grounds of religion.
Pence claimed the law was intended to “protect” organisations from having to provide services for same-sex weddings, saying: “I support the freedom of religion for every Hoosier [Indiana citizen] of every faith.
“The Constitution of the United States and the Indiana Constitution both provide strong recognition of the freedom of religion but today, many people of faith feel their religious liberty is under attack.”
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He appeared unable to answer when asked whether it should be legal to fire people because of their sexuality.
In a clip, Pence was asked: “Yes or no: do you believe gay and transgender people should be able to be fired from their jobs just for that reason only?”
After an awkward ten-second silence, Pence attempted to stall, responding: “It’s a great privilege to be your Governor.”
Fudging a response, he said: “My position as I expressed in the state of the State address is that we are a state with a constitution, and as you know… that constitution has very strong safeguards for freedom of conscience and freedom of religion.”
Donald Trump and Mike Pence (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
During the Presidential campaign, Pence backed plans to roll back Barack Obama’s executive protections on LGBT rights, so that “the transgender bathroom issue can be resolved with common sense at the local level”.
He said: “This is such an example of an administration that seems to have… there’s no area of our lives too small for them to want to regulate, no aspect of our constitution too large for them to ignore.
“Donald Trump and I both believe these questions can be resolved with common sense at the local level.”
“These issues are resolved in the state of Indiana whenever they come up, and they should be resolved, for the safety and well-being of our children first and foremost, their privacy and rights, and with common sense. Donald Trump and I simply believe all of these issues are best resolved at the state level, by communities.”
He added: “Washington has no business intruding on the operation of our local schools. It’s just one more example of the heavy hand of this administration, and Donald Trump and I will stand by that common-sense people that when it comes to our kids, and the operation of our schools, those decisions should be made at the local level.
“Washington DC has no business imposing its bill and its values on communities around the nation.”
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Decades of proof have not stopped Pence from attempting to rewrite his deeply anti-LGBT record, however.
He abruptly started denying his support for gay cure therapy in December 2016, one month before he was sworn in as Vice President – despite never once trying to correct public reports about his well-known views in the 16 years beforehand.
Pence is reported to be behind many of the anti-LGBT actions taken by the Trump administration, supporting Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ bid to roll back anti-discrimination protections for gay people.
