Leo ‘touched’ by Pence invitation
LEO Varadkar’s partner could accompany him to the White House next year – but the Taoiseach indicated last night that it was only a remote possibility.
He was speaking after it was revealed that US Vice President Mike Pence, in breaking with his public image as a hardline conservative, spoke to the Taoiseach after the shamrock ceremony at the White House and enquired about his partner, Dr Matt Barrett, by name.
Mr Pence also said that he and his wife Karen would be delighted if Matt would accompany the Taoiseach to the traditional Vice President’s breakfast, held at the Naval Observatory in Washington each St Patrick’s week.
The Taoiseach said he was touched by the invite.
‘We had a really, really good breakfast this morning with Mike Pence,’ he said.
‘I did manage to speak to them about equality and my support for equal rights for women and the LGBT community,’ Mr Varadkar said.
The media were excluded from the meeting of Mr Pence and the Taoiseach yesterday, a break with previous tradition, even though the Taoiseach’s team had requested that the media be present.
It was seen as an effort to prevent the Vice President being asked about gay rights and the Taoiseach’s partner in public, since any moderation in his remarks could damage his conservative credentials and risk losing votes.
The Trump-Pence ticket has pledged to run again in 2020.