Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday that he wasn’t “offended” by the cast of the musical “Hamilton” expressing their views to him from the stage Friday night.
Pence said he attended the show with his daughter and other family members on Friday. Audience members booed him when they realized he was in the room, and and cast members spoke directly to him from the stage at the end of the show.
Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who plays Vice President Aaron Burr, thanked Pence for attending but said “we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.”
“We truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us,” Dixon said.
Pence said he wanted to reassure Dixon and anyone else who is “feeling anxious” that Mr. Trump will be a president “of all the people.”
“I wasn’t offended by what was said, I’ll leave to others whether it was the appropriate venue to say it,” he told CBS “Face the Nation.” “But I want to assure people who were disappointed in the election results, people who are feeling anxious about this time in the life of our nation, that President-elect Donald Trump meant exactly what he said on election night, that he is going to be the president of all the people of the United States of America.”
That’s a different approach than President-elect Donald Trump has taken in responding to the incident. In several different tweetstorms over the weekend, Mr. Trump lambasted the cast of the show, called for them to apologize, and called the award-winning “Hamilton,” which has performed to sold-out audiences since it premiered on Broadway last year, “highly overrated.”
Mike Pence: "I wasn't offended" by "Hamilton" cast member's comments
By Emily Schultheis
/ CBS News
Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Sunday that he wasn’t “offended” by the cast of the musical “Hamilton” expressing their views to him from the stage Friday night.
Pence said he attended the show with his daughter and other family members on Friday. Audience members booed him when they realized he was in the room, and and cast members spoke directly to him from the stage at the end of the show.
Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who plays Vice President Aaron Burr, thanked Pence for attending but said “we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us.”
“We truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us,” Dixon said.
Pence said he wanted to reassure Dixon and anyone else who is “feeling anxious” that Mr. Trump will be a president “of all the people.”
“I wasn’t offended by what was said, I’ll leave to others whether it was the appropriate venue to say it,” he told CBS “Face the Nation.” “But I want to assure people who were disappointed in the election results, people who are feeling anxious about this time in the life of our nation, that President-elect Donald Trump meant exactly what he said on election night, that he is going to be the president of all the people of the United States of America.”
That’s a different approach than President-elect Donald Trump has taken in responding to the incident. In several different tweetstorms over the weekend, Mr. Trump lambasted the cast of the show, called for them to apologize, and called the award-winning “Hamilton,” which has performed to sold-out audiences since it premiered on Broadway last year, “highly overrated.”
In:- Mike Pence
- Donald Trump
- White House
Emily Schultheis is a reporter/editor for CBS News Digital.
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