Vice President Mike Pence cost police over $14,000 with political stunt at Colts game

Vice President Mike Pence’s stunt at a Colts game in which he left knowing 49ers players would be kneeling for the national anthem ended up costing the Indiana Metropolitan Police Department more than $14,000, according to HuffPost. It adds to the already estimated $250,000 it cost to fly him to and from Indianapolis.

In Week 5, two weeks after President Donald Trump made his infamous comments in which he referred to players who kneeled during the national anthem “sons of bitches,” Pence attended a Colts game. The 49ers — who started the protesting around the league in 2016, spearheaded by Colin Kaepernick — were the visiting team.

After the playing of the national anthem, Pence left the game. In a string of tweets, he expressed why he left the game, which was because of the protests that he claimed to be disrespectful to the country, soldiers, and flag.

But he also had a prepared statement within minutes:

Later on in the afternoon, President Trump tweeted that he specifically asked Pence to leave if players kneeled out of “disrespect to the country.”

The entire thing was a mess, a poorly executed political stunt. The Colts were honoring Peyton Manning after an illustrious career with the team, and the main takeaways from the entire afternoon were Pence’s fake actions.

That’s not to mention the hassle that Pence also put fans through, who had to go through additional security clearances to even get into Lucas Oil Stadium.

And then, of course, it wasn’t a cheap trip:

To review:

• He cost police over $14,000.
• Made fans wait extra time to get into the stadium.
• Flew around the country at nearly $43,000 an hour.
• And he did all of that, only to leave early in the first quarter himself.