US Vice President Mike Pence’s close relationship with his wife Karen has prompted a barrage of criticism on social media. Picture: AFP Photo

The “creepy” titbit was part of a Washington Post story published yesterday, which also described his wife Karen as his “prayer warrior, gut check and shield”.

“In 2002, Mike Pence (said) he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife and that he won’t attend events featuring alcohol without her by his side either,” it revealed.

It led some Twitter users to point to another forgotten profile piece about Mr Pence from 15 years ago, in which it was revealed he calls his wife “mother”.

According to a profile published in 2002 that’s been unearthed, Vice President Mike Pence calls his wife Karen “mother”. Picture: AFP PhotoSource:AFP

The Rolling Stone story recounted a dinner at the then-Indiana Governor’s mansion with several politicians in attendance.

“Pence shouted to his wife, Karen, his closest adviser, at the other end of the table: ‘Mother, mother, who prepared our meal this evening?’” the 2002 feature reads.

“The legislators looked at one another, speaking with their eyes. He just called his wife ‘mother’. Maybe it was a joke, (one) reasoned. But a few minutes later, Pence shouted again: ‘Mother, mother, whose china are we eating on?’”

Vice President Mike Pence won’t dine with women or even be alone in the same room with a female unless his wife Karen is present. Picture: AP PhotoSource:AP

All of this was too much for Twitter users to let slip past, with a string of pointed messages directed at the Vice President, who is President Donald Trump’s staunchest ally.

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Rather than a sign of the strength of their marriage, many concluded that Mr Pence’s stance on not being alone with women was “creepy” and even troubling.

“Mike Pence refusing to dine with women alone or drink at events without his wife present isn’t ‘respectful’ it’s ‘don’t trust me’,” Katy Volikas wrote.

Mike and Karen Pence have an incredibly close relationship and she is described as his “prayer warrior, gut check and shield”. Picture: AFP PhotoSource:AFP

In defending the second most powerful man in the world, Mr Pence’s fans labelled his critics “immoral” for criticising his marriage.

But as Twitter user Jessie Lahr pointed out, the Vice President is a regular opponent of gay marriage.

“Um ... judging other people’s marriages is Pence’s favourite extra-curricular activity,” she said.

As the Post pointed out, The couple are incredibly close and Ms Pence once had a special red phone installed in her husband’s Washington office while he was a Congressman, that only she had the number for.

“Now, as second lady, Karen Pence, 60, remains an important influence on one of President Trump’s most important political allies,” it said.

Karen Pence is the “force” behind much of her husband’s socially conservative views, it was reported. Picture: APSource:AP

“She sat in on at least one interview as the vice president assembled his staff, accompanied her husband on his first foreign trip and joins him for off-the-record briefings with reporters, acting as his gut check and shield.”

Ms Pence is also the “force” behind her husband’s famously conservative stances on social issues like gay marriage, it was reported.