What Kind of Animal Is Marlon Bundo, the Pet Belonging to Vice President Mike Pence's Family?

WASHINGTON - Marlon Bundo, one of the most popular members of the Trump assistants, is flipping through the pages of a new book.

There'due south Marlon in the Oval Role, Marlon on Capitol Hill, Marlon in the Naval Observatory.

Marlon is a rabbit.

The real-life pet of Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, is actually turning the book pages with his teeth. "Reading" in the sunroom of the vice-presidential residence, Marlon is ridiculously beautiful and seems fully enlightened of that fact.

And why not?

This rabbit has his own title: BOTUS, aka Bunny of the United States. He has an Instagram account with about 17,000 followers. And now he has a children'southward book, "Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President," a hop through official Washington through the eyes of a fluffy black-and-white leporid.

"He is a star," said Karen Pence, who illustrated the book, which was written by her girl, Charlotte. "He really is adorable."

He is likewise i lucky bunny.

Marlon would have lived a quiet life of grass-nibbling and whisker-twitching but for a twist of fate. Five years agone, Charlotte was a freshman at DePaul University and needed a rabbit for a student picture show project. She constitute a cute one on Craigslist, then cast him in a starring role equally a symbol of rebellion in a world of conformity. (The bunny was always escaping from his cage.)

Turns out that he was a natural actor.

"He really does pose," Charlotte said. "It's actually funny."

Her roommate idea they should name him after Marlon Brando. Charlotte tweaked it to "Bundo" because that was a pun she couldn't turn down.

Fast forrard to 2016, when her male parent was elected vice president and the Pences moved to Washington. Charlotte and Marlon came forth for the ride, and soon BOTUS had an Instagram business relationship and a following of political fans and pet-rabbit owners, who noted that Marlon needed his nails clipped later his first photo appeared online. (He promptly got a pedicure.)

BOTUS made his first public appearance in May, during an outcome honoring military families at which he upstaged the vice president, Ivanka Trump and national security adviser H.R. McMaster.

A star was built-in.

The Pence family, unlike the Trumps, are pet people: Their home has always been filled with dogs, cats, hamsters and other assorted creatures, including bunnies. (Presidential pet trivia: Abraham Lincoln, Chester Arthur, Teddy Roosevelt and John Kennedy also endemic rabbits, none of which had their own social-media account.)

The Pences'south love 16-year-old rescue beagle died right earlier the 2016 election; elderly cats Oreo and Pickle fabricated the move from Indiana to Washington but passed away last year. During the summer, the Pences adopted Harley, an Australian shepherd. (The veep asked for a motorcycle for Father'south Day; he got a puppy and naming rights.) They as well got Hazel, a gray shorthair kitten who photograph-bombs Marlon's pictures at every opportunity.

The book'due south dedication includes "furry family unit members across the globe who bring then much joy to our lives."

"I taught 2nd course for years before I became an art teacher, and I would always encourage the parents to

get some kind of pet that their children had to have intendance of, because I think it teaches responsibility,"

said the second lady. "And caring for an animal is just a good experience for kids.

For the states now, with the kids gone, we like the unconditional love you go from a pet."

Marlon, now the longest-serving Pence pet, narrates the book. Charlotte wanted to write an educational story explaining what exactly the vice president does all day because well-nigh children don't actually sympathize the job. She wrote the story in poetry and persuaded her mother, an award-winning watercolor artist, to do the illustrations.

For years, Karen Pence created paintings of people's homes — and her watercolor of the Naval Observatory now hangs in the sunroom. For this book, she began painting the White House and the Capitol, then figured out how to put Marlon in each scene.

Other than one member of their Surreptitious Service detail, the rabbit's is the only confront in the volume.

"I can't practise faces," Mrs. Pence said. "I don't do faces because people are and so particular about their abode — understandably so — that I thought I never want to endeavour to paint their children or a family member. I'll never get it correct, and then I've never fifty-fifty tried."

Another reason for doing the book? It allows her to talk well-nigh one of her pet causes: art therapy.

Proceeds from the book, to be released Monday by conservative publisher Regnery, will be donated to Tracy's Kids, an art-therapy plan at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis (the second lady is a board member for both) and A21, a nonprofit aimed at ending sex trafficking. The book tour, set to begin Sunday, will include stops at the Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon presidential libraries and armed services bases as well every bit Tv interviews.

Marlon, who sticks close to Washington these days, volition brand a few public appearances to promote the book, but specifics oasis't been announced.

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Source: https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/books/2018/03/17/rabbit-belonging-to-vice-president/12972934007/

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