Liam Stack sticks out among even the liberal journalists at the New York Times for his unrelenting snark and his partisan Twitter feed. He was at it again in Wednesday’s print edition, which was graced with the hard news that liberal host John Oliver has rushed out a children’s book to troll one by Vice President Mike Pence’s 24-year-old daughter Charlotte: “When 2 Bunnies Love Each Other Very Much, and Troll the Pences.”
This is the story of a little gay bunny.
A little gay bunny who belongs to Vice President Mike Pence.
....
This is the story of Marlon Bundo, the Instagram star and real-life pet of the vice president’s family, who is also the subject of two dueling children’s books released this week.
The first, “Marlon Bundo’s Day in the Life of the Vice President,” is a picture book written by Mr. Pence’s daughter Charlotte that focuses on the bunny’s observations of the vice president, with illustrations by his wife, Karen.
The other, “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver Presents a Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo,” is a gay romance between two bunnies that was the brainchild of the HBO comedy host John Oliver.
So far, that is the more popular of the two.
Oliver pled with his Sunday night audience to “....buy it because you know it would annoy Mike Pence.” Stack dutifully enthused, “And buy it they have.”
In it, Marlon Bundo, a snappily dressed bunny with a penchant for bright bow ties, falls in love with a bespectacled boy bunny named Wesley. Things seem to be going pretty well for the two lovebirds (love bunnies?) until a powerful stinkbug who bears a striking resemblance to Mr. Pence decrees that male bunnies cannot marry each other.
Oliver rounded up some Hollywood names that had joined in the mockery, including Jim Parsons, John Lithgow, and RuPaul.
Ms. Pence’s book is more sober children’s fare. It is not known if it identifies Marlon Bundo’s sexual orientation at all.
Charlotte Pence seemed to take the John Oliver parody in stride....“We have two books giving to charities that are about bunnies, so I’m all for it really.”
Caught up in amusing himself, Stack relegated the charity aspect to a single sentence, only to let Oliver trump that.
Some of the proceeds from her book will be donated to A21, an organization that fights human trafficking. Mr. Oliver said all of his book’s profits would be donated to The Trevor Project, a charity for L.G.B.T. youth, and AIDS United.
Stack shoehorned in references to the controversial issue of “conversion therapy.”
Mr. Pence has also long been dogged by claims that he supports anti-gay conversion therapy due in part to language contained on the website of his 2000 campaign for Congress....
The success of Mr. Oliver’s book marks the second time in recent months that criticism of Mr. Pence’s record on L.G.B.T. rights has turned into a pop culture moment.
That would be Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon.
Twitchy demonstrated how Charlotte Pence outclassed Oliver: “...While Oliver hopes his book outsells Pence’s to “really piss off” the vice president, Charlotte Pence acknowledges that both books are benefiting worthy charities, so the more sales the better.”
