Mike Pence's Sex Joke at Republican Debate Goes Down Like a Lead Balloon

Mike Pence joked about having been "sleeping with a teacher for 38 years," in reference to his wife Karen Pence, during the second Republican presidential debate in California on Wednesday.

The former vice president made the remark after another presidential hopeful, ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, said President Joe Biden is "sleeping with a member of the teachers union" meaning "there is no chance that you could take the stranglehold away from the teachers union every day." First lady Jill Biden is a member of the influential National Education Association.

In response Pence quipped: "Because by way of full disclosure, Chris, you mentioned the president's situation. My wife isn't a member of the teachers union. But I've got to admit I've been sleeping with a teacher for 38 years and um, full disclosure."

The joke received a smattering of laughter, but was met with silence from much of the audience.

A 21-second clip of Pence's remark was shared on X, formerly Twitter, by the Pod Save America podcast, which is hosted by a group of former staffers in President Barack Obama's administration, where it racked up more than 77,000 views.

They commented: "Mike Pence tried to make a joke and it went about as well as you thought it would."

Newsweek has contacted the Mike Pence campaign via the contact form on their official website.

Before Pence's remark, Christie had been bemoaning the influence of teaching unions, claiming they are running public schools across America.

He said: "Let's tell the truth to everybody of what this is. This public school system is no longer run by the public. It is run by the teachers unions in this country. Randi Weingarten [American Federation of Teachers president] and her crew are absolutely straggly. They're taking the worst of their members and defending them rather than advocating for our kids."

Wednesday's debate featured seven of those vying for the Republican presidential nomination but Donald Trump, by some margin the frontrunner, addressed autoworkers in Michigan. During his speech, Trump suggested none of those at the debate would be his 2024 running mate, commenting: "I don't know, does anybody see any VP in the group? I don't think so."

Christie, a prominent Trump critic, attacked the former president for not taking part in the debate commenting: "You're not here tonight because you're afraid of being on this stage and defending your record."

DeSantis, whose polling indicates is Trump's closest GOP competitor, also hit out at the frontrunner for not attending. He said: "The former president, he's missing in action tonight. He's had a lot to say about that. He should be here explaining his comments to try to say pro-life protections are somehow a terrible thing."

The debate was moderated by Stuart Varney and Dana Perino from Fox News, and Univision's Ilia Calderón, who struggled to prevent the Republican rivals from speaking over each other at a number of points. They also faced a negative response when asking the candidates who should be "voted off the island," with DeSantis labeling the question "disrespectful." Of the candidates only Christie chose to answer, saying he would pick Trump.