An LGBT+ parody of Mike Pence’s children’s book is outselling the original

At the weekend comedian John Oliver announced a parody of Mike Pence’s newly released children’s book – and now it’s outperforming the original.

The LGBT+ themed book is a response to Marlon Bundo’s A Day In the Life Of The Vice President, written by Mr Pence’s daughter Charlotte and illustrated by his wife Karen.

The original children’s book describes Mr Pence’s job as vice president of the USA through the eyes of his family rabbit, Marlon Bundo.

Last Week Tonight host Oliver decided to hit back at the release due to the book tour’s stop at Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian group known for its opposition to LGBT+ rights.

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He took aim at the tour stop, as well as Mr Pence’s difficult relationship with the LGBT+ community, by creating a parody of the book with a gay main character.

Within 24 hours of release, the parody book, written by Jill Twiss and illustrated by EG Keller, had topped the best-selling books list on Amazon US, outperforming the original.

Oliver’s book is titled A Day In The Life Of Marlon Bundo, and tells a similar story of the same pet – however this Marlon Bundo falls in love with a male rabbit.

On the show, aired on Sunday night, Oliver said: “There are a few small differences between the two books. This is a sweet story about Marlon Bundo falling in love.”

Dedicated to “every bunny who has ever felt different”, the audiobook version is voiced by LGBT+ actors Jim Parsons and Jesse Tyler Ferguson.

Social media has fallen in love with the story, with the release announcement on Twitter receiving thousands of retweets, and the book quickly overtaking Mr Pence’s on the Amazon best-seller list.

In a statement to CNN, a spokesman for Regnery Publishing, which issued the Pences’ book, said: “It’s unfortunate that anyone would feel the need to ridicule an educational children’s book and turn it into something controversial and partisan.

“Our goal is – and will continue to be – to educate young readers about the important role of the vice president, as well as to highlight the charities to which portions of the book proceeds will be donated.”

Oliver said profits from his book will be donated to LGBT+ crisis and suicide prevention hotline The Trevor Project, and AIDS United.

Proceeds of Mr Pence’s book will be donated to art therapy programme Tracy’s Kids and A21, a non-profit organisation fighting human trafficking.