Fact Check

Was Mike Pence Disappointed in Men for Allowing the Women's March?

A satirical article about Mike Pence's expressing his disappointment in husbands and fathers for allowing the Women's March was mistaken by some as real news.

Published Jan. 22, 2017

 (Fox News)
Image Via Fox News
Claim:
Mike Pence said that he was disappointed in husbands and fathers for allowing women to participaite in the Women's March.

On 21 January 2017, over one million women across the United States — in the nation's capital of Washington and other cities — took part in a Women’s March demonstration, inspired partly by the past disparagement of women exhibited by the newly inaugurated President Donald Trump.

The same day, the online humor site The Onion published an article reporting that newly inaugurated Vice President Mike Pence had expressed disappointment in husbands and fathers across the U.S. for allowing their wives and daughters to attend the Women's March on Washington:

Admonishing those responsible for failing to uphold their moral duties, Vice President Mike Pence expressed disappointment in the 200,000 husbands and fathers who had allowed the women and girls in their charge to attend the Women’s March on Washington. “I can’t tell you how let down I feel by the heads of these households who did not simply give their wives and daughters a firm, decisive ‘no’ when they asked to participate in today’s demonstration,” said Pence, noting with frustration that many of the protesters had been granted permission to travel across the country alone and stay for several days in a faraway city with no male chaperone whatsoever to guide and look after them.

Although The Onion is one of the online world's premier satire sites, many readers nonetheless confused their spoof story about Pence for a legitimate news piece.

As of this writing, Vice President Pence has not publicly issued comment on the Women's March protest. President Trump did, however, reference it on Twitter:

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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