Comic John Oliver Takes Pence Down the Rabbit Hole With a Bunny Book Parody

Sunday’s episode of Last Week Tonight with comedian John Oliver took the Veep to the woodshed and didn’t turn him loose until he’d been properly (albeit figuratively) paddled.

Oliver has a wit every bit as biting as any comic working today, and with the former Governor of Indiana, he had a feast over the weekend, as he went through a litany of Pence’s contradictions and myopic statements. But when he arrived at the Vice President’s stand on LGBT equality — well he took it to another level. Call it DEFCON 5.

It seems that in an effort to one-up George Lucas on kid-friendly distractions, the entire nuclear Pence family has put together a children’s book about the home’s pet — a rabbit cutely enough named Marlon Bundo. (This name came, of course, before rumors surfaced recently that the bunny’s namesake is alleged to have dabbled in a little homosexual behavior of his own.)

The book is written by daughter Charlotte and illustrated by First-Lady-in-Waiting Karen. It’s title: “Marlon Bundo’s Day in the Life of the Vice President,” released yesterday.

Oliver’s brilliant counterpunch: A book about how Marlon Bundo falls in love with Wesley, another rabbit of the same sex. Pence, of course, is notoriously “against” being gay (like those people “against” people with unattached ear lobes), and has called Focus on the Family founder James Dobson a dear friend “and mentor.” And while Pence has tried to sidestep the notion that he supports so-called “gay conversion” therapy, his comrade-at-arms Dobson has supported it openly for decades.

The TV host explained that his book (and audio contributions from RuPaul, Jim Parsons, Ellie Kemper and Jesse Tyler Ferguson) casts a slightly wider view of what constitutes a family. There are, Oliver says, “a few small differences between the two books… Our Marlon Bundo is gay.”

“A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo’ is a real book, he explains, and perfectly suitable for children. An online summary describes it thusly: “With its message of tolerance and advocacy, this charming children’s book explores issues of same-sex marriage and democracy.” The description goes on to say that the parallel parody is “sweet, funny, and beautifully illustrated,” concluding that “this book is dedicated to every bunny who has ever felt different.”

See the entirety of Oliver’s slightly bawdy takedown of the Veep in its entirety below.

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