Mike Pence's NFL Protest Cost Taxpayers Over $200,000

On Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence traveled with his wife from Las Vegas to Indianapolis to watch a Colts game. But when the San Francisco 49ers team took a knee during the national anthem, the Pences walked out in protest. 

The 49ers are the former team of quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling during the anthem last year in protest of the way minorities were being treated in the United States. In the wake of the election of President Trump, as well as various racially-charged protests by white supremacist groups, the anthem protest has seen a spread in popularity among other NFL teams as well as other sports.

Soon after his stunt, Pence released a tweet in support of President Trump and the tradition of standing for the anthem: 

But by Monday, it was revealed that Trump had instructed Pence to leave if the 49ers kneeled in protest. Trump soon confirmed on Twitter that the stunt had been in the works for a while:

Naturally, many were furious that Trump and Pence had orchestrated and executed the protest using taxpayer money. According to CNN, the Air Force Two flights alone would have totaled somewhere between $200,000 and $250,000. The figure doesn't even take into account the added security required at the game or the travel to and from the airport.

Attempting to downplay the amount, a spokesperson for the Vice President told the Washington Post that the trip actually saved money, since Pence would've flown back to D.C. for the night before heading to a speaking engagement in Los Angeles.

That idea seems fairly preposterous and just goes to show the lengths to which the Trump administration is going to rile up their base.

Many on Twitter were appalled by the revelation:

The whole thing reeks of hypocrisy: 

Stay focused, America: 

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H/T: Washington Post, CNN, Twitter 

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