Irish Twitter roasts Mike Pence on Ireland visit

Irish Twitter users roast Mike Pence following the Vice President's tweet on how he plans to "celebrate" his "Irish roots" next month.

News . Written by Ezra Maloney.

Leo Varadkar meeting Mike Pence in a busy room.

Irish twitter has exploded in the last few days after homophobic US Vice President Mike Pence revealed his plans to visit Ireland next month.

Pence, who is known to have defended the horrific conditions in US immigrant detention centres in recent months, tweeted his excitement at celebrating his “Irish roots”, to which many Twitter users have responded in disgust. Pence’s Grandfather immigrated to the United States from County Sligo in 1923, highlighting the hypocrisy of the Vice President’s anti-immigrant views.

Pence’s trip is expected to cost up to €10 million in security costs. Today, Pat Ennis, GRA (Garda Representative Association) general secretary, called the visit “a risk to (Irish) citizen’s safety”.

The comments section on Pence’s tweet were flooded with fiery responses from Irish users who didn’t hold back with their opinions on the Vice President, who, after these replies, can consider himself well and truly roasted.

https://twitter.com/ACaomhanach/status/1162359582477471744

https://twitter.com/LindaOkaythen/status/1162392069861773312

Earlier this year, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and his partner Matt Barrett attended what could only be imagined as a very uncomfortable breakfast with Pence and his wife Karen, considering the Vice President’s track record on LGBT+ rights.

Pence is known to have voted against hate crime laws during his time in Congress as well as allegedly endorsing cruel gay conversion therapy.

Additionally, Pence opposed the repeal of the US military’s controversial “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010, saying that he did not want to see the military become ‘a backdrop for social experimentation’. All in all, it’s safe to say that Pence will never be flavour of the month in the LGBT+ community.

https://twitter.com/dngrstd/status/1162420060998242304

The Irish response perfectly mirrors that of Iceland, where Pence will visit on September 4, for meetings with President Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson.

Thorbjörg Þorvaldsdóttir, chairperson of Icelandic LGBT+ organisation Samtökin ’78, reacted to the news saying, “Mike Pence has caused queer people suffering for decades.”

Judging by the savage response, it’s clear that Mike Pence is not, and will not be welcomed in Ireland. The library is now officially closed.

https://twitter.com/BeaInIreland/status/1162040095513481217

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