Mike Pence’s Epic Response to a Military Mom

The mainstream media wants you to focus on the first 30 seconds of an exchange between the mother of an American airman and the Republican vice presidential nominee, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Running with headlines alternating between “Trump supporters boo military mom” and “Pence defends military mom’s right to criticize Trump,” the gist of that exchange is lost—perhaps purposely—for those who were not there.

Now we know about the other three minutes of that exchange. Yes, Pence was confronted by an angry military mom who wanted to know why, as the father of a U.S. Marine, he could “tolerate” the recent comments from Donald Trump directed toward the Gold Star family of a Muslim American Army officer. Many in the crowd booed, and Pence defended her right to ask the question—all as the mainstream media reported.

But when Pence answered her question, it was—in a word—epic.

“As I have said, and as Donald Trump said on Sunday night, Captain [Humayun] Khan is an American hero,” he said. “We should honor him and his family as we do all Gold Star families in this country.”

Pence then went on to briefly recount Khan’s story, and how he was posthumously awarded medals for valor for pushing back a crowd of people before turning around and running back toward the danger that ultimately took his life. He repeated again that both he and Trump believed Khan is an American hero and that his family should be cherished, just as the nation cherishes all of its Gold Star families.

Then, he returned to the heart of the woman’s question: why he continues to support Donald Trump in spite of the current controversy.

“[H]aving spent time with our nominee, I have never been around someone more devoted to the armed forces of this country—more devoted to the families of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard—and no one more devoted to the veterans in this country,” he said. “Donald Trump supports our soldiers and supports our veterans like no other leader in my lifetime.

“The truth is we’ve got work to do in our military, everybody. Our military has been hollowed out, through budget cuts in D.C. and through changing priorities in our nation’s capital. Donald Trump will rebuild our military. He will make sure our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guard have the resources they need—the training that they need—I promise you that.

“It was a president I keep mentioning (Ronald Reagan) who said, ‘We achieve peace through strength,’ and the truth of the matter is, by rebuilding our military, we will let the world know as well that we are ready. We are the arsenal of democracy, and we are ready and able to defend our freedom and defend our allies wherever they’re threatened in the world.”