Mike Pence Struggled to Explain Why Taxpayers Should Have Paid for Him to Stay at Trump Resort

September 4th 2019

By Dan Desai Martin

Vice President Mike Pence struggled on Tuesday to explain why he was using taxpayer money to enrich Trump while staying in Ireland.

“Democrats have criticized you today for staying at the Trump property in Doonbeg. They say you are enriching the president. What’s your response to that criticism?” Pence was asked.

Pence paused for almost five seconds before coming up with a reply, which did not answer the question.

“It’s wonderful to be back in Ireland,” Pence said.

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Pence is staying at Trump’s golf course in Doonbeg, a city 180 miles west of Dublin, where his meetings will take place. Because Trump refused to divest his financial interests in his properties, he personally profits when people like Pence — and Pence’s entire Secret Service detail — stay at one of his properties.

In this case, the American taxpayer gets to foot the bill so Pence can line Trump’s pockets in Ireland. After speaking for several minutes about his love of Ireland and the importance of the American-Irish relationship, Pence struggled to come up with a specific reason for staying at the Trump-branded property.

Doonbeg is a small place and “the opportunity to stay at Trump National in Doonbeg, to accommodate the unique footprint that comes with our security detail and other personnel made it logical,” Pence claimed.

Pence did not defend the logic of staying almost 200 miles away from the location of his meetings, which requires an hour long flight from Shannon to Dublin on Air Force Two.

Instead, he repeated the name of Trump’s resort several times, advertising for a Trump property while he’s supposedly in the country to serve the American people.

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