Mike Pence suggests 'Mulan' is liberal propaganda in 1999 op-ed

In the 17-year-old editorial, Pence wrote: "I suspect that some mischievous liberal at Disney assumes that Mulan's story will cause a quiet change in the next generation's attitude about women in combat, and they just might be right."

>> Read more trending stories  

In his argument, Pence cited real-life military scandals, including Tailhook and the Aberdeen Proving Ground, in which officers were convicted of raping female soldiers. He ended the piece: "Moral of story: women in military, bad idea."

"Despite her delicate features and voice, Disney expects us to believe that Mulan's ingenuity and courage were enough to carry her to military success on an equal basis with her cloddish cohorts," he wrote. "Obviously, this is Walt Disney's attempt to add childhood expectation to the cultural debate over the role of women in the military.

"Many young women find many young men to be attractive sexually. Put them together, in close quarters, for long periods of time, and things will get interesting. Just like they eventually did for young Mulan."

Fortune wrote: "Pence's argument is twofold: Women are too fragile to fight and soldiers are incapable of behaving like the professionals they are."

His running mate seems to agree with those assertions. In 2013, Trump tweeted: "26,000 unreported sexual (assaults) in the military -- only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men and women together?"

The U.S. military began recruiting women for combat jobs in March.

Pence, who has been governor of Indiana since 2013, hasn't won the support of many Indiana women.

Women across the state protested after Pence signed a bill that banned women from getting abortions because of fetal abnormalities. It also forced women to have aborted or miscarried fetuses interred or cremated.