REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen Pence arrive for the State Dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macon at the White House in Washington, U.S., April 24, 2018.
- Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball and The Big Short, wrote that Vice President Mike Pence's wife, Karen, was less than pleased with President Donald Trump's victory in the moments after he won the 2016 election.
- Lewis claims that after Trump won, Pence tried to kiss his wife but she turned away and said: "You got what you wanted. Now leave me alone."
- Lewis' account centers on the problems Trump had with his transition team, but contains behind-the-scenes stories from the election night.
- Lewis also claims that Trump just sat staring at the TV in disbelief when he saw he'd won.
Vice President Mike Pence tried to kiss his wife Karen in the minutes after Trump won the 2016 election on November 9 - but she reportedly turned away from him and said: "You got what you wanted. Now leave me alone."
But Pence wasn't alone in her scorn, as she "wouldn't so much as say hello to Trump," after the win Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball and The Big Short, wrote in a Guardian long read based on several interviews with Trump insiders and published on Thursday.
In an account of Trump's unexpected win and chaotic transition into the White House, Lewis writes that Trump "just stared at the TV without saying anything, like a man with a pair of twos whose bluff has been called," after clinching Pennsylvania at 1:35 a.m., thereby winning the election against all odds.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump
Trump, thinking he wouldn't win, didn't pay for, or even have, a transition team in place upon winning. Trump staffer and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie volunteered to lead the transition team, but Trump didn't want one, Lewis writes.
Finally, when Christie told Trump it was a legal requirement to have a plan for the presidency, Trump agreed begrudgingly.
But when Trump read in the paper that Christie had raised money to pay people, Trump called Christie and campaign chief Steve Bannon to Trump Tower and screamed: "You're stealing my money! You're stealing my f------ money! What the f--- is this?" Lewis writes.
Trump only calmed down when Bannon reminded Trump that if he didn't have a team, people would think he wasn't confident about winning, according to Lewis.
Read Lewis' full article at The Guardian here.