Lady Gaga blasted Vice President Mike Pence over the weekend during a concert in Las Vegas, where she questioned the Republican leader’s faith after he defended his wife’s part-time teaching position at a Christian elementary school.
The 32-year-old recording artist made the comments Saturday night, in between bars of her song “Million Reasons.”
Lady Gaga says Mike Pence is 'worst representation' of Christianity https://t.co/jF9oyxgArB pic.twitter.com/gZREMgYKc6
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) January 21, 2019
“You say we should not discriminate against Christianity; you are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian,” she said, according to The Guardian. “I am a Christian woman and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace, Mr. Pence, and you can look yourself in the mirror and you’ll find it right there.”
Second Lady Karen Pence Returns to Classroom to Teach Art Classes Part Time
Gaga also directly lambasted second lady Karen Pence for teaching at a school that — in her words — “bans LGBTQ” students and staffers.
What’s the truth?
Earlier this month, the White House released a statement announcing Karen Pence had joined the faculty at Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, Virginia, where she will work as an art instructor two days a week until May.
News outlets ranging from CNN and NBC News to The Huffington Post and The Washington Post responded immediately, taking issue with the Christian school’s theological opposition to homosexuality.
So, lemme get this straight, the second lady of the United States has chosen to work at a school that openly discriminates against LGBT adults and children. https://t.co/A4lxOv7V8G
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) January 16, 2019
The media uproar over Karen Pence’s job stemmed from the wording in the school’s employment application:
Moral misconduct which violates the bona fide occupational qualifications for employees includes, but is not limited to, such behaviors as the following: heterosexual activity outside of marriage (e.g., premarital sex, cohabitation, extramarital sex), homosexual or lesbian sexual activity, polygamy, transgender identity, any other violation of the unique roles of male and female, sexual harassment, use or viewing of pornographic material or websites.
Responding to the backlash, Karen Pence’s spokeswoman, Kara Brooks, said it’s “absurd” the second lady is facing such intense criticism for choosing to teach students part-time at a nearby Christian school.
“It’s absurd that her decision to teach art to children at a Christian school, and the school’s religious beliefs, are under attack,” Brooks said.
Mike Pence Fires Back After ‘Deeply Offensive’ Criticism of Wife’s Christian School Work
For his part, Mike Pence called the attacks against his wife and their Christian convictions “deeply offensive,” noting the U.S. has a “rich tradition of Christian education, and frankly, religious education broadly defined.”
“The criticism of Christian education in America should stop,” the vice president said.