Not the act they were hoping for? Vice President–elect Mike Pence was booed by the audience as he attended a performance of hit musical Hamilton, and was later addressed by the cast in New York City on Friday, November 18.
A Broadway attendee tells Us Weekly that the audience “spent a full minute booing him before the show could start.” Another source tells Us that there was a “roaring applause after the ‘immigrants, we get the job done’ line” and that Pence left his seat during intermission.
Shortly after Pence made his entrance, Twitter users caught wind of the incident and reacted in full force.
“Mike Pence is watching Hamilton tonight. It's a great opportunity for him to learn empathy,” one person tweeted, while another added: “Mike Pence's violently homophobic self attended a showing of Hamilton on Broadway and was booed by the audience. Proud to be queer. <3.”
Pence, who has pursued an aggressively anti-LGBTQ agenda throughout his political career and has been criticized, along with POTUS-elect Donald Trump, for his views on abortion and the environment, was seemingly accompanied by his wife, Karen, and Secret Service for the outing.
After the show — which is about a group of Colonial rebels helping to shape the future of the United States — Pence was leaving the theater as the cast gathered on stage to deliver a message to him.
"We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us … or uphold our inalienable rights, sir," Brandon Victor Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr, said as he called out to the VP-elect from the stage. "We truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us. We truly thank you for sharing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations."
New York Times political correspondent Patrick Healy later tweeted that the show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Tommy Kail, producer Jeffrey Seller and the cast wrote the statement after learning that Pence was coming to see the show. After Dixon's speech, Pence was loudly booed again.
See the internet’s reactions below.
Here's Pence getting booed as he gets to his seats at Hamilton pic.twitter.com/IRQG68x1sB
— David K (@dkipke12) November 19, 2016
https://twitter.com/brandonmonokian/status/799808329895780352
https://twitter.com/BasilioVelasco/status/799808440939978752
Before anyone worries about Mike Pence's feelings, please remember he killed a needle exchange program and caused an HIV outbreak in Indiana
— CJ (@CJSheffler) November 19, 2016
Mike Pence should be followed by a jeering crowd everywhere he goes
— DONUT WOLF (@Felrender) November 19, 2016
Mike Pence at Hamilton, folks
— Gerald Betamax (@AriTruscan) November 19, 2016
Mike Pence needs to be booed at all times. Y'all trippin
— zeer (@zairejl) November 19, 2016
You just know Mike Pence is gonna sing along at Hamilton even though he only knows like every 7th word of a song
— Brett Ryland (@brettryland) November 19, 2016
Unreal scene here – Mike Pence walks in and there's a massive mix of cheers and boos. pic.twitter.com/GVZ5L67mA3
— Noah Coslov (@NoahCoslov) November 19, 2016