Donald Trump is usually the most outspoken Republican, but it appears that there is someone else who's no afraid to raise his voice. During a recent meeting with members of the House Freedom Caucus, Vice President Mike Pence brought his male colleagues to tears.
Pence's way
During the early stages of the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump was viewed as a side show candidate who didn't have a legitimate chance at victory.
Despite this, the former host of "The Apprentice" was able to gain surprising success and eventually went on to win the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention last summer. With Trump gearing up for the general election, he decided on Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to be his running make, in an apparent attempt to secure conservative Christian voters that had become weary in their support of the billionaire real estate mogul. While it's unknown what the exact impact bringing Pence onto the ticket had on the results, Trump was able to defeat Hillary Clinton on election night, catapulting himself and Pence to victory.
Since then, Pence has stayed relatively quiet and out of the spotlight, leaving the headlines and controversy to surround the president. Despite this, as first reported by Politico, and later Mediaite, on June 16, Pence became so enraged during a recent meeting with the House Freedom Caucus that he left many of them crying as he left the room.
According to a report in Politico on Friday, Mike Pence met with members of the House Freedom Caucus during Donald Trump's first attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act earlier this year due to their initial opposition. "I was the Freedom Caucus before the Freedom Caucus existed," Pence reportedly told the members. "Don't try to tell me this bill isn’t conservative enough," the vice president added with anger.
Politico notes in the original article that once Mike Pence left the room, "several grown men had broken into tears because of the tension present," before many of them finally agreed that "they would now support the legislation if a vote were held." Pence's scolding of the House Freedom Caucus came too late as the first attempt to pass health care was a failure, before passing the House weeks later.
Next up
While there is increased tension and dissension in the Republican Party, they still hold the majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Donald Trump's health care bill has since passed through the House, where it awaits a debate and vote in the Senate in the upcoming weeks.