Updated 10/9/17 at 4:30 p.m. ET:
Several Democratic members of congress have taken issue with Pence's stunt by pointing out the tax dollars that were pointlessly wasted as a result:
According to numbers crunched by The Huffington Post, the airfare for Pence's brief trip to Indy may have cost $88,000.
Additionally, The Huffington Post included comment from a Pence aide who argued the trip actually saved taxpayers money by not going all the way back to Washington D.C. "The Vice President was not going to miss the Las Vegas memorial prayer walk on Saturday, which he was honored to attend on behalf of President Trump," the aide told them. "If the Vice President did not go to Indiana for the Colts game, he would have flown back to DC for the evening — which means flying directly over Indiana. Instead, he made a shorter trip to Indiana for a game that was on his schedule for several weeks."
Seems like an eye-rolling move, regardless.
Original story below
At a time when the once-bold line between American football and politics is blurring, it seems as though the White House can't go one Sunday without blowing up Twitter feeds in their efforts to make people stand during "The Star-Spangled Banner."
While attending a Colts game in Indianapolis, Vice President Mike Pence walked out of the stadium after 49ers players decided to kneel during the national anthem. Prior to his tantrum, the vice president started out his day by tweeting a photo of him and his wife who were at the game to honor Colt's ex-quarterback Peyton Manning, whose number is being retired at today's game.
However as the 49ers decided to take a knee during the anthem, the vice president no longer felt as though he needed to be tolerant or diplomatic. When Colin Kaepernick's former teammates protested the anthem, Pence stormed out of the stadium, because after all, this is an administration defined by feeble high-profile stunts. The VP immediately tweeted upon exiting the stands, stating "I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem."
When Pence fired off a series of tweets following his exit, he spoke to the botched argument that kneeling during the anthem can be equated to disrespect for this country. Even though many players have stressed that the protests are meant to shine a light on the racial social injustices that persist in this country, Pence turned to the buzz words that his supporters are always willing to blindly digest like "courage", "unite", and most of all "soldiers."
As unpredictable as Trence may be, what came after Pence's declaration was textbook Trump if there's ever been such a thing. After Pence acted in concurrence with Trump's vendetta against the entire NFL, Donald felt this obsessive wave of FOMO wash over him, and immediately took to Twitter to take credit for Pence's departure. Let's face it: if you don't brag about it on the Internet, did it really happen?
Although both the president and his second hand want to make this about disrespecting the U.S. military, players have continued to remind everyone that this is not about the Armed Forces. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said, “Beauty is, it’s a free country so they can choose to do it or not. The messaging towards this unfortunately needs to continue to be redirected, I think. It’s never been about the national anthem. It’s never been about the military.”
Mike Pence wrapped up his schpeal by reminding his followers that he chooses to stand for the anthem.
The NFL players who have been protesting the anthem recently have made it clear that they don't intend on backing down. While some teams have chosen to lock arms instead of kneel, their message has been heard by football fans and the NBA alike. Football is no longer just about sports, and with everything that's going on in our country right now, it's hard to imagine that reverting back anytime soon.
