When the AP refused to take the Second Lady’s e-mail address down, Vice President Pence used his Twitter account to demand that the AP apologize for putting his wife’s security at risk…
While all of the political mudslinging that’s been going on in the United States lately can occasionally take some cheap shots at family members, sometimes the media can go too far. After the Associated Press (AP) published Second Lady Karen Pence’s personal e-mail address on Friday, the office of Vice President Mike Pence asked that the AP at least redact her e-mail address from their story. The story was in reference to the Vice President’s e-mail usage when he was serving as governor. His personal e-mail address was also published.
According to the Vice President, his wife still uses the e-mail address. When the AP refused to take the Second Lady’s e-mail address down, Vice President Pence used his Twitter account to demand that the AP apologize for putting his wife’s security at risk and violating her privacy. His office also argued that they had never known of any other instances where a Second Lady’s personal e-mail address was published. As of Sunday 04 March, according to the AP, the Second Lady’s e-mail address has since been removed from their publication. They also stressed that they stand by the content of their story and its relevance doesn’t change.
We’ve seen family members of elected officials disrespected, attacked, and bullied over the years. It’s despicable and unacceptable to go after the family of politicians. They did not run for office. According to the office of the Vice President, the Second Lady received malicious e-mails after the story containing her e-mail address was published. Members of the press also said they just weren’t aware that the e-mail address was still in use. I don’t understand why that would even be a valid argument when you’re dealing with family members of government officials. I wouldn’t see a reason to assume that Karen Pence would stop using her personal e-mail address, even in light of the latest media feeding frenzy regarding Vice President Pence.
Aside from violating Mrs. Pence’s privacy, there are the obvious security concerns. It’s completely shocking that any media outlet would put the Vice President’s family members in a position where their personal information has been shared and compromised. Journalism has become so cutthroat and sensationalized that it seems they forget that human beings are involved. While Mrs. Pence supported her husband running for his current office, I highly doubt that she signed on to have her personal information published for the world to see.
There are so many hateful things going on in this country and irresponsible mistakes such as this can be dangerous for someone as high profile as Karen Pence. We’ve seen similar aggression towards First Lady Melania Trump, even stooping so low as to mock her accent and suggest that she’s in the country illegally. These women deserve our support, whether or not we agree with their husbands.
Angelina Newsom is an OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran. She has ten years experience in the military, including a deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She studies Criminal Justice and is still active within the military community.
To contact or book OpsLens contributors on your program or utilize our staff for your story, contact [email protected].
