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Who is Marlon Bundo? How Mike Pence's pet rabbit became BOTUS and a literary icon with three books about him

Pence's daughter Charlotte adopted Marlon Bundo, named after actor Marlon Brando, for a college filmmaking project

After the news that President Donald Trump and FLOTUS Melania tested positive for Covid-19, people on Twitter were busy discussing whether a replacement will be required for POTUS for the election and will it be Mike Pence. And, since Pence was trending we decided to find out what was up with Marlon Bundo. For the uninitiated, he is the beloved Pence family rabbit, who has his own Instagram account.

Back in 2017, CNN had reported that he was no ordinary bunny. He was a bunny with a book deal. Bundo announced it on social media with a photo of the book agreement signing and had captioned it: “A Big Announcement for my Friends! Coming to a bookstore near you on March 19! Mom wrote a children's book about me and Grandma painted beautiful watercolors in it, too! In the book, I follow Grampa around all day, as a BOTUS should, while he goes about his duties as Vice President! Also, Mom and Grandma are donating a portion of their proceeds to charity! Check out my Instagram story for more info (and to pre-order)! (Next time I do a book signing, I'm going to practice my paw print beforehand! Don't worry, it was bunny-safe ink.”

The book was written by the Pence’s daughter, Charlotte, with watercolor illustrations by second lady Karen. As reported by CNN, Charlotte adopted Marlon Bundo, named after actor Marlon Brando, for a college filmmaking project.

In another report from 2017, CNN had reported, the Pence family bunny, made his official debut in a ceremony honoring military families at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It was his first public event as BOTUS – the Bunny of the United States. Karen Pence held Marlon Bundo as she delivered brief remarks to the families and children assembled. The report quotes her saying, “Marlon is kind of famous because he is the first bunny to ever ride on Air Force Two. And we love Marlon. He's named Marlon Bundo because he's named after a famous movie star, Marlon Brando, and because my daughter got him when she was making a movie in college, and she needed a bunny to be the star. So Marlon – this notoriety is nothing new for him.”

As USA Today had reported, the first book had got more attention after comedian John Oliver created an alternative version which was a criticism of the vice president’s stance on gay rights. But Charlotte didn’t dismiss Oliver’s parody, instead she bought a copy. She reasoned that people should support both books since the proceeds from both go to charity. “My dad has always taught me to handle situations with grace … just to be kind whenever you can,” she told USA Today in an interview.

But BOTUS’ literary journey didn’t stop there. The USA Today report stated that he will be back with two more books in 2019. The second book was  ‘Marlon Bundo's Best Christmas Ever’. As reported by USA Today, just like the first bunny book, a portion of proceeds were for A21, a nonprofit working to end human trafficking. And Karen’s contribution to an art therapy program at Indianapolis' Riley Hospital for Children, and to  Tracy's Kids, an art therapy program for children with cancer.

And then, the third book ‘Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Nation's Capital’ was released. In that book, as reported by USA Today, BOTUS takes the Supreme Court bench, takes in a show at the Kennedy Center, gazes at the names etched on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and paws through the first Marlon Bundo book at the Library of Congress.

On September 26, Karen tweeted, “It’s #NationalBunnyDay! And we just love having Marlon Bundo hopping around!” – along with a photo collage of BOTUS with the family.