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Vice President Mike Pence compared Donald Trump to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a CBS News interview over the weekend, claiming both leaders have inspired Americans to change through the legislative process.

During a segment on Sundays Face The Nation, host Margaret Brennan pressed Pence on the presidents latest offer to end the partial government shutdown, which involves trading extended protections for DACA recipients for a wall on the southern U.S.-Mexico border. Before Trump officially made the proposal on Saturday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) rejected it in a statement where she called the deal unacceptable, a non-starter and stated that it did not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to peoples lives.

If this is a genuine attempt [at ending the shutdown], why werent any Democrats included in the consultations? Brennan asked Pence on Sunday.

U.S. President Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a Missile Defense Review announcement on January 17, 2019 at the Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia. On Sunday, Pence compared Trump to Martin Luther King Jr. on the eve of MLK Day. Getty/Martin H. Simon

Pence responded by reciting Trump administration talking points before adding a surprise comparison of the president to Martin Luther King Jr. to sell the proposed border wall.

Honestly, you know, the hearts and minds of the American people today are thinking a lot about it being the weekend we are remembering the life and the work of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was, Now is the time to make real the the promises of democracy, he said, quoting a passage from Dr. Kings famous I Have a Dream speech.

Pence continued on to argue that like MLK, Trump has also inspired us to change. You think of how he changed America, he inspired us to change through the legislative process, to become a more perfect union, he said. Thats exactly what President Trump is calling on the Congress to do, come to the table in a spirit of good faith.

Read more:Martin Luther King in Pictures: The Life and Times of the Civil Rights Icon

The vice presidents comments come on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday marking the birthday of the influential American civil rights movement leader and celebrating his life and achievements.

A partial government shutdown went into effect in December after Trump declined to sign a stop-gap measure designed to keep it running through to February on the basis that it didnt include funding for his proposed border wall. Now on its 29th day with no resolution in sight, the shutdownwhich has left around 800,000 federal employees either furloughed or working unpaidbecame the longest in U.S. history when it hit 22 days last weekend, beating a 1996 record set by Bill Clintons administration.

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Mike Pence Compares Trump to Martin Luther King Jr. on eve of ...

Lady Gaga weighed in on the nations current state of affairs during her Enigma show in Las Vegas on Saturday, joining an ever-growing list of celebrities to voice their disapproval of the Trump administration.

The Grammy winner singled out Vice President Mike Pence, slamming himfor thinking its acceptable that his wife work at a school that bans LGBTQ.

The vice president has defended Karen Pencesdecision to teach at the Immanuel Christian School, which bans LGBTQ employees, students and families. In an interview with Eternal World Television Network, Mike Pence likened the uproar overhis wifes decision to an attack on Christianity.

You are wrong, the singer said, before speaking of her own Christian faith:

You said we should not discriminate against Christianity. You are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian. I am a Christian woman, and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace Mr. Pence and you can look yourself in the mirror and youll find it right there.

The A Star Is Born actress also issued a message to Donald Trump amid the ongoing partial government shutdown, asking if the fucking president of the United States could please put our government back in business.

There are people who live paycheck to paycheck and need their money, she said to applause from the audience.

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Lady Gaga Slams Mike Pence: Hes The Worst Representation ...

On the eve of a holiday commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Vice President Mike Pence seemed to liken President Donald Trump's push for a border wall to the civil rights leader's legacy.

Speaking Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," the vice president quoted from King's "I Have a Dream" speech as he defended Trump's latest pitch to secure funding for a barrier along the United States' southern border. The budget impasse over the wall has resulted in the longest government shutdown in history, one that has left thousands of federal workers without pay.

"One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was, 'Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,' " Pence said. "You think of how he changed America. He inspired us to change through the legislative process, to become a more perfect union.'

"That's exactly what President Trump is calling on Congress to do," Pence continued. "Come to the table in the spirit of good faith. We'll secure our border. We'll reopen the government, and we'll move our nation forward as the president said yesterday to even a broader discussion about immigration reform in the months ahead."

Pence was referring to the president's latest proposal to end the partial government shutdown. On Saturday, Trump offered Democrats three years of deportation protections for some immigrants, including many who were brought to the country illegally as children, in exchange for $5.7 billion in wall funding.

Democrats, who have long sought protections for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, who are known as "Dreamers," immediately rejected the proposal, arguing that the president should reopen the government before any talks on border security begin. Conservatives saw the president's proposal as amnesty.

On Sunday, Pence appeared on shows and defended Trump's proposal, which he said "provides a framework" for ending the shutdown.

"What the president presented yesterday really is an effort to bring together ideas from both political parties," Pence said on CBS. "I think it is an act of statesmanship on the president's part to say, 'Here's what I'm for. It includes my priorities.' "

Pence's comments about King drew immediate pushback from Democrats, including Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who said Trump "is no MLK."

"To equate the legacy of one of America's finest statesmen and champions of civil rights with a vanity project built on racist ideology and hatred is beyond disgraceful," Speier tweeted.

The NAACP called Pence's comments "an insult" to King's legacy.

The partial shutdown has closed parks across the country, including the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta. The park reopened in time for the holiday after it received a grant from Delta Air Lines. One of King's children, Martin Luther King III, talked about the reopening on CNN on Sunday.

The Washington Post was unable to reach Martin Luther King III for comments about Pence's remarks.

In recent years, the civil rights leader's children have asked Trump to stop using what they believe to be divisive rhetoric.

Martin Luther King III called out Trump last year over reports that the president used vulgar words to deride African countries and said the country should instead bring more immigrants from countries such as Norway.

"When a president insists that our nation needs more citizens from white states like Norway, I don't even think we need to spend any time even talking about what it says and what it is," Martin Luther King III said, according to The Associated Press. "We got to find a way to work on this man's heart."

During the holiday commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. last year, his daughter, Bernice King, also told the AP that she hopes Trump would observe the holiday by avoiding offensive tweets.

"If he can dare to do that, I would be proud on that day that our president honored Dr. King by not doing things that are offensive," Bernice King said.

The Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.

This story first appearedin The Washington Post

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Mike Pence links Trump's push for border wall to Martin ...

January 20, 2019 4:22PM PT

Lady Gaga took a short break from singing Million Reasons at her Saturday performance of Enigma in Las Vegas to slam the president for the continued government shutdown.

While sitting at the piano for her performance, Gaga broke into a takedown of the government shutdown and Vice President Mike Pence, who has been in the headlines after it was brought to light that his wife recently decided to return to teaching art part-time at the Immanuel Christian School in Springfield, Va., which expressly bars LGBTQ students or employees.

And that the fing president of the United States could please put our government back in business, the Star Is Born actress said. There are people who live paycheck to paycheck and need their money.

And to Mike Pence, who thinks its acceptable that his wife work at a school that bans LGBTQ, you are wrong, she continued. You say we should not discriminate against Christianity; you are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian. I am a Christian woman and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace Mr. Pence and you can look yourself in the mirror and youll find it right there.

Okay, Im sorry, I got upset for a second there, she said as she transitioned back into the song.

Lady Gaga has long been vocal about her support of the LGBTQ community, having partnered with charities to help homeless LGBTQ youth as well as using her platform and leverage to bring attention to issues of mental health.

Watch a video of the moment above.

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Lady Gaga Slams Mike Pence at Vegas Residency Variety

Mike Pence, Opinion contributor Published 8:00 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 2019 | Updated 2:37 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2019

As the partial government shutdown continues, President Trump tweeted about the new caravan heading for the southern border. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story. Buzz60

America has a national security and humanitarian crisis at our southern border, and President Donald Trump has promised to end it. Weve already taken important steps, but rather than work with us to make further progress, Democrats in Congress have refused to compromise on the wall, leading to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

The American people deserve better. Only the willfully blind or politically blinded could fail to see the scope and scale of this crisis.

The facts speak for themselves. Over the past threemonths, an average of 2,000 illegal and inadmissible migrants have arrived at our southern border every day.Today, the majority of illegal immigrants encountered by Customs and Border Protection are families and children. Last month, CBP apprehended nearly 40 percentmore unaccompanied children and groups claiming to be families than in May 2014, which President Barack Obama describedas a humanitarian crisis.

Vice President Mike Pence(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

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Then, as now, the flood of illegal traffic brings with it a deluge of drugs, criminalsand violence. Over the past twoyears, CBP hasarrested thousands of criminalsat the southern border. In 2018, across the entire southwest border,CBP also seized over827,000 pounds of drugs, including more than100,000 pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroinand fentanyl, primarily at points of entry.

These criminals and these drugs shatter American homes and steal American lives. Our hearts grieve for the families of the300 Americans who die every single week from overdoses involving heroin, nearly90 percent of which enters the country from across our southern border.

And its not just Americans who suffer. According to Doctors Without Borders, 70 percentof illegal immigrants report being victims of violence along the journey at the hands of human traffickers, drug smugglersand vicious gangs. About a third of women are sexually assaulted on their way to America.

The courageous men and women of law enforcement are fighting tirelessly to protect our nation from these threats and rescue migrants in danger. They also face serious hazards themselves. Assaults on CBP officers increased by 46 percentin 2017, andattacks on Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are at their highest level inseven years.

The American people caught a tragic glimpse of this danger the day after Christmas, when a police officer in California a legal immigrant was murdered by an illegal immigrant.

President Trump and I recognize that border security is national security. Thats why this president has made it a priority to end this crisis, secure our border, build a wall, and protect the American people.

Since even before this partial government shutdown began, our administration has attempted to work with Democrats in good faith. Last week, we proposed a compromise that contains both Republican and Democratic priorities, including the presidents request for $5.7 billion to fund a steel barrier on the southern border and more than $7 billion to address a wide variety of security and humanitarian needs, many of which have been long supported by both parties in Congress.

But the American people deserve to know: Democrats refuse to negotiate on building the wall.

Even as we face a crisis on our southern border, and as 800,000 federal workers go without paychecks, Democrats in Congress have been unwilling to seriously discuss even partial wall funding. President Trump and our administration will not be deterred by the Democrats' obstruction. The American people want to see action, and we intend to deliver.

Its time for Democrats in Congress to do their job, negotiate in good faith, and reach an agreement that ends the humanitarian and security crisis at our border and reopens the government. The American people deserve nothing less.

Mike Pence is vice president of the United States. Follow him on Twitter:@VP

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Mike Pence: Democrats refuse to compromise on border wall