Vice President Pence on Wednesday accused “The View” of expressing “religious intolerance” after the talk show’s hosts compared his reported belief that Jesus talks to him with “mental illness.”
“It is just simply wrong for ABC to have a television program that expresses that kind of religious intolerance,” Pence said at an event sponsored by Axios.
His comments came a day after “The View” co-host Joy Behar said that if Pence hears Jesus speak to him, it is the same as hearing voices.
{mosads}“It’s one thing to talk to Jesus,” Behar said. “It’s another thing when Jesus talks to you. That’s called mental illness if I’m not correct. That’s hearing voices.”
The show’s hosts were discussing former White House aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman appearing on “Celebrity Big Brother” and claiming that Pence “thinks Jesus tells him to say things.”
Co-host Sherri Shepherd began to defend Pence, saying as a Christian, she also talks to Jesus, but added, “What concerns me is how long is the conversation with Jesus?”
Pence said “The View” insulted the vast majority of Americans who practiced any kind of faith and showed how “out of touch some in the mainstream media are.”
Manigault-Newman had called Pence “extreme” and said Americans would be begging for Trump to come back if Pence became president.
The former “Apprentice” contestant also said on “Big Brother,” in a previously released clip, that she was “haunted” by Trump’s tweets and said operations inside the White House are “so bad.”
The White House responded last week to Manigault-Newman’s claims and attempted to minimize her role in the administration with deputy press secretary Raj Shah saying not to take her comments too seriously.
“Omarosa was fired three times on ‘The Apprentice’ and this was the fourth time we let her go,” Shah said.
-Updated at Feb. 17 at 1:10 p.m.