Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday said he “wasn’t offended” after the cast of “Hamilton” decided to address him directly from the stage following a performance of the smash-hit musical in New York City.
Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor who portrays Aaron Burr in the musical, kicked off an unusual flap with President-elect Donald Trump by stepping up to ask Mr. Pence, who’d taken in Friday night’s performance, to “uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us.”
“Again, we truly thank you truly for seeing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations,” Mr. Dixon said from the stage.
Mr. Pence said he was still in the venue and heard it, though he did not echo Mr. Trump’s demands for an apology.
“I wasn’t offended by what was said,” he told Fox News Sunday.
He also said that Americans should rest assured that Mr. Trump will be president “for all the people.”
Yet Mr. Trump wasn’t about to let the cast off the hook. He rattled off a trio of tweets blasting the episode, saying Mr. Pence was “harassed” and that the cast should apologize.
“The Theater must always be a safe and special place,” he tweeted, borrowing from the lexicon of liberal college protesters. “The cast of Hamilton was very rude last night to a very good man, Mike Pence. Apologize!”
For his part, Mr. Pence said he’d “leave it to others” to address whether it was the appropriate venue for such a targeted message, though he gave the show two thumbs up.
“It was a real joy to be there,” he said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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