Tag: Mike Pence

Pence Says All 50 States Reopening In ‘Responsible Manner.’ Fauci Says Otherwise.

The Wall Street Journal published the vice president’s propaganda about the coronavirus. Here’s what he got wrong.

Vice President Mike Pence painted a rosy ― and misleading ― portrait of the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus and the current state of the crisis in an op-ed published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal.

In one section, Pence, whom President Donald Trump appointed in late February to lead the White House’s coronavirus task force, praised all 50 states for beginning to reopen in a “safe and responsible manner.”

But Dr. Anthony Fauci, the lead infectious disease expert on the task force, suggested that isn’t the case during an interview with NPR earlier Tuesday. Continue reading.

Mike Pence reportedly urged governors to reiterate a misleading claim that coronavirus infection spikes are due to increased testing

Cash-starved states are forced to make massive job cuts. Reopenings for some restaurants and bars are short-lived amid new infections.

Vice President Mike Pence urged governors during a call to use a misleading claim to explain the recent COVID-19 outbreaks in coronavirus cases across the US, The New York Times reported Monday.

The claim, which has repeatedly been touted by the Trump administration, says the reasoning behind what Pence called “intermittent” spikes coronavirus cases in various states is increased testing, The Times reported.

“I would just encourage you all, as we talk about these things, to make sure and continue to explain to your citizens the magnitude of increase in testing,” Pence told governors, according to audio obtained by The Times. “And that in most of the cases where we are seeing some marginal rise in number, that’s more a result of the extraordinary work you’re doing.” Continue reading.

‘We ought to set aside this talk’: Pence’s take on systemic racism meets a new test

The vice president is flipping between backing his boss’ tough talk and articulating a more conciliatory approach to the protests sweeping the nation.

As protests unfolded over the latest police killing of a middle-aged black man, an African American bishop asked Mike Pence a simple question: How can you personally reunite a racially splintered nation?

Pence, a devout Christian of the born-again stripe, calmly replied that he would orient the country toward God and away from “voices of division” demanding transformational change — or, in his words, talking “too much” about systemic racism. “The faith community, I believe, has before and can again pay an enormously important role in healing the divide in our country,” Pence said to the clergy and congregants seated around him. What doesn’t help, he volunteered, is “this talk of institutional bias, or racism, within law enforcement.”

“It’s a challenging time to be in law enforcement, but I would tell you that Donald Trump and I know and believe that the men and women of law enforcement — our white officers, our African American officers, our Hispanic, Latino and Asian officers — they’re the best of us and we ought to set aside this talk … about institutional racism and institutional bias,” Pence advised. Continue reading.

Twin Cities law enforcement briefed on possible Obama, Pence visits this week

The Secret Service is briefing local law enforcement about possible visits to the Twin Cities this week by former President Barack Obama and Vice President Mike Pence, FOX 9 has learned.

Obama would be attending Thursday’s memorial for George Floyd.

Pence would be visiting Friday. Continue reading.

Pence’s ‘special envoy’ in foreign aid office sparked ethics complaint just weeks after he started his job

AlterNet logoIn early 2018, an incoming Trump political appointee and ally of Vice President Mike Pence made an unusual suggestion to a United Nations agency whose funding hinged on support from a skeptical Trump administration: He pitched them to do business with one of his private-sector clients.

“Might merit your team’s consideration,” Max Primorac wrote in January, weeks before he formally started at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where he would eventually become an adviser to Pence.

The client pitch by an incoming official sparked a complaint a month later from an anonymous State Department official, according to documents obtained by ProPublica. The U.N. agency, the United Nations Development Program in Iraq, had by then received over $190 million in funding from USAID, the complaint said. Continue reading.

Exclusive: Pence says he’d be “happy” to see Michael Flynn back in government

Axios logoVice President Mike Pence told “Axios on HBO” that he welcomes the idea of bringing Michael Flynn back into government, after the Justice Department moved last week to drop its criminal case against President Trump’s former national security adviser. This episode of “Axios on HBO” debuts Monday at 11pm ET/PT.

Why it matters: Trump said April 30 that he would “certainly consider” bringing Flynn back into the administration. Since Flynn had been accused of lying to the vice president, Pence’s blessing clears an obstacle to him returning to Trump’s inner circle.

  • “I think Gen. Michael Flynn is an American patriot,” Pence said during the interview in Iowa on Friday. “And for my part, I’d be happy to see Michael Flynn again.”

The big picture: Trump lavished praise on the decision by his Justice Department to go to court to drop charges against Flynn, who had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his conversations with former Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Pence had CEOs remove masks before meeting with him — hours after his press secretary tested positive for COVID-19

AlterNet logoThe Trump administration is not only ignoring CDC and medical experts’ guidelines it is actively working to make Americans less safe.

On Friday Vice President Mike Pence flew aboard Air Force Two to Des Moines, Iowa, to meet with food industry CEOs. His flight was delayed after his press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for coronavirus. Several staffers were forced to exit the plane before it took off. Also board were Iowa Republican Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.

Pence held a roundtable discussion at the headquarters of the Hy-Vee supermarket chain. As The Intercept reports, five industry executives, seated at the table, all wearing masks, were approached by a staffer who asked them to remove their masks before the Vice President would come to the table (video below.) Continue reading.

A top aide to Vice President Pence tests positive for coronavirus

Washington Post logoA top aide to Vice President Pence has tested positive for the coronavirus, making her the second known person working at the White House to contract the illness in the past two days, according to several people familiar with the situation.

Katie Miller, the vice president’s press secretary, was notified Friday about the result, according to people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it had not been publicly announced by the White House. Miller confirmed to NBC News that she tested positive and said she was asymptomatic. The White House earlier in the day confirmed that a member of Pence’s staff tested positive but did not disclose the individual’s name.

President Trump later appeared to confirm it was Miller. Continue reading.

Pence staff threatens action against reporter who tweeted about visit to clinic without surgical mask

Washington Post logoVice President Pence’s office has threatened to retaliate against a reporter who revealed that Pence’s office had told journalists they would need masks for Pence’s visit to the Mayo Clinic — a requirement Pence himself did not follow.

Pence’s trip to the clinic Tuesday generated criticism after he was photographed without a surgical mask — the only person in the room not wearing one. The Minnesota clinic requires visitors to wear masks as a precaution against spreading the coronavirus.

Pence’s wife, Karen Pence, said in an interview with Fox News on Thursday that he was unaware of the mask policy until his visit was over. Continue reading.