Between his trip to the St. Louis Jewish cemetery that was damaged by anti-Semitic vandalism, and his speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, Vice President Mike Pence is trying his best to prove that the Jewish community has the support of the Trump administration. Trump, and certain members of his cabinet, have been called out for not mentioning the loss of Jewish life when talking about the Holocaust, so Mike Pence has been sent out on an apology tour, which instead became a bit of a face-palm when he used the Nicaraguan flag rather than the Israeli flag when he pledged his and Trump’s support for Israel and the Jewish people.
Mike Pence has often been put out front of a variety of topics by the Trump administration to take some of the knocks by the opposition, says the Inquisitr . Just after the election, Pence did a foreshadowing of many contentious topics, like protecting employers who do not want to insure employees for things like birth control and abortion, which are contrary to their personal religious beliefs. Pence also said that he and Donald Trump supported removing the protection for LGBT students to choose the bathroom that suited their particular gender identification, rather than the bathroom that matched the gender on their birth certificate.
So as Mike Pence travels around, trying to convince American Jews and supporters of Israel that they have the backing of Trump and Pence, it was a serious oops that according to Mike Pence, Israel and Nicaragua’s flags got confused, says Daily Mail . In the defense of Mike Pence, Israel and Nicaragua have similar coloration, but the big and obvious difference is the Star of David in the center of the Israel flag, whereas the flag of Nicaragua has the national coat of arms, which looks nothing like the Jewish star.
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And sure, everyone, whilst tweeting has had a typo, but when tweeting, Mike Pence got the Israel and Nicaragua flags mixed up twice. Considering the critical nature of Israel’s location, and relationship with the United States, all of those involved with international politics can identify Israel’s flag, but some believe this is one more indication that Pence and Trump are not prepared to interact on an international stage.
America loves the poorly educated in the age of Google. @mike_pence @VP uses a Nicaraguan flag for Israel in tweets. pic.twitter.com/qfEvhOFkrr
— Scott SFBA.social ? (@bullriders1) February 25, 2017
After the Mike Pence mis-tweets, that were to accompany his speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition, where Pence declared his unequivocal support for Israel, it was made clear that it was a staffer, and not Pence himself, who screwed up. The two tweets were each highlighted with the Nicaraguan flag.
“WATCH LIVE my remarks to Republican Jewish Coalition. Under ‘POTUS Trump we will stand with Israel,’” “Our support for the Jewish people doesn’t end at our nation’s border. Under “POTUS, the world will know America stands with Israel.”
After his speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition, Pence attended perhaps his first Jewish Shabbat dinner. Pence made it clear that he and Trump would continue to combat the on-going bias against Israel by the United Nations.
“We’re going to keep our end of the bargain. If the world knows nothing else, the world will know this: America stands with Israel.”
And while neither the White House nor Pence didn’t comment on the international political gaff, Twitter was alive with comments, where people metaphorically scratched their heads, wondering how such a mistake could be made twice. And while the oops was removed (not corrected to feature the Israel flag, which does have its own emoji), in the age of screen shots, the Pence error will live forever.
“America loves the poorly educated in the age of Google. @ mike_pence @ VP uses a Nicaraguan flag for Israel in tweets.”
“Betsy Devos must’ve taught Mike Pence about geography bc that’s definitely the flag for Nicaragua, not Israel.”
“Please say # MikePence , the new VP, did NOT Tweet the flag of Nicaragua instead of Israel by accident?? He did? Unfortunate, unfortunate.”
The Chicago Tribune said that Pence also did an apology tour overseas, visiting Nazi concentration camps and mollifying foreign powers after statements from Trump got them riled up. Trump, who reportedly prefers to stay in the United States and not travel beyond the New York, DC, and Mar-a-lago circuit that he makes almost weekly. But many are asking why Mike Pence is being sent to fix things that he did not break, and if foreign leaders can trust what Pence has to say.
Many Israel supporters were alarmed when Netanyahu came to visit, and Donald Trump didn’t seem to know the meaning of a one-state or two-state solution, but Nikki Haley and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has sought to clean up that mess, speaking for Trump, and saying that of course, a two-state solution is being sought between Israel and Palestine.
But many European leaders, like Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, found the manner of VP Mike Pence soothing in comparison to President Trump, and Pence assured them if they didn’t want to connect with Trump, they could call him.
“He was very understanding, very friendly, and told us that if we ever have any problems we should call. He said if you don’t want to call the president, you can always call me.”
Ignorance & incompetence of this regime is mind-boggling. pence tweets support for Israel with wrong flag. #unfit https://t.co/07xmjxZ0zX
— Patti Kimble – Love. Save our Democracy, vote Blue (@PattiKimble) February 26, 2017
Do you think that the Pence public gaffs will lessen after Donald Trump has been in office a few months? Can you identify the flag of Israel?
[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]