It’s three years since Mike Pence said he wanted a horse ‘inside’ him and if we have to remember then so do you

Mike Pence tweeted about a horse and it got weird. (Twitter)

In the miasma of news alerts, headlines and tweets in the world of 2020, for today (May 13) and today only, just know one thing – it’s been exactly three years since Mike Pence tweeted enjoying horses a little, uh, too much.

The US vice president and original horse girl was on a trip to Montana in 2017, meeting with business and energy leaders.

As part of his trip, Pence went on a horseback tour of Absaloka Mine with the Crow Nation tribal leaders, Montana Senator Steve Daines Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke.

He tweeted some fairly mundane things, but then came the fabled tweet. He uploaded a photograph of himself wearing a periwinkle grey shirt, cracking a cheery smile as he stands next to a horse.

“Outstanding afternoon,” Pence wrote, “‘I’ve often said there’s nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse’ – Pres. Reagan.”

Pardon, Pence? What was that now?

And, of course, what was the internet’s main takeaway from that tweet three years on?

Yup.

Countless Twitter users came together to celebrate the anniversary. With some only just coming across this artefact of Twitter history. 

What has Mike Pence been up to since?

Well, a few things.

Mike Pence and Donald Trump

Mike Pence plans to be back in the White House with Donald Trump, 73, on Monday. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty)

A 2018 report revealed that Pence has played a pivotal role in actions taken by the Trump administration to dismantle civil rights protections for LGBT+ people.

The report alleged that Pence was behind a divisive executive order that aimed to legalise forms of religious discrimination against LGBT people.

Meanwhile, Pence has openly voiced support for the Trump administration’s decision to bar US embassies flying from rainbow flags, making clear: “It’s the right decision. I support that.”

He maintains close ties to anti-LGBT hate groups, and has hit back at “attacks” on his wife, Karen Pence, for teaching at a school that discriminates against gay children.
And, fast-forwarding to 2020, he’s leading America’s coronavirus task force while not wearing a protective masks. When he visited the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, Pence ignored the hospital’s instruction that all visitors wear masks.