U. S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on Sunday he was not offended by pointed comments made to him by a cast member of “Hamilton” after he attended the hit Broadway show.
“I wasn’t offended,” Pence said on “Fox New Sunday,” declining to ask for an apology as President Donald Trump had demanded. Pence acknowledged that many Americans were disappointed and anxious after Trump’s Nov. 8 election victory, but he sought to reassure Americans that Trump would be a president “for all Americans.”
After the show on Friday evening, Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays America’s third vice president, Aaron Burr, read a statement directed at Pence while standing in front of the cast in full costume.
“We, sir – we – are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights,” Dixon said.
Pence sought to address Dixon’s concerns. “They are going to see President-elect Trump be a president for all of the people and we embrace that principle,” Pence said.
Trump criticized the cast in a series of tweets on Saturday and again on Sunday.
“The Theater must always be a safe and special place. The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!” Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday, taking time out from his search for appointees to his incoming administration.
“Our wonderful future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing. This should not happen!”
Pence praised the hit show and urged people to see it. Trump called the sold-out show “highly overrated” Sunday.
Pence noted that there were some boos and cheers when he arrived at the theater. He recalled telling his kids of the response: “That’s what freedom sounds like.”
“Hamilton” is a hip-hop-infused musical that tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, a penniless immigrant who rose to become the right-hand man of General George Washington, as well as a key figure in the creation of the U.S. financial system and the creator of the U.S. Coast Guard. He was killed in an 1804 duel with Burr.
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