Pence Archives

Pence absent from Covid-19 planning calls for more than a month

October 30, 2020 [email protected]_84 absent, calls, COVID19, month, Pence, planning

When Vice President Mike Pence first took charge of the White House’s coronavirus task force, among his earliest moves was establishing a standing call with all 50 governors aimed at closely coordinating the nation’s pandemic fight.

a man wearing a suit and tie: Vice President Mike Pence is not expected to be on the line again Friday, when the group holds its first governors call since Oct. 13.

© Patrick Semansky/AP Photo
Vice President Mike Pence is not expected to be on the line again Friday, when the group holds its first governors call since Oct. 13.

Yet as the U.S. confronts its biggest Covid-19 surge to date, Pence hasn’t attended one of those meetings in over a month.

Pence – who has been touting the Trump administration’s response effort on the campaign trail for weeks – is not expected to be on the line again Friday, when the group holds its first governors call since Oct. 13, said a person with knowledge of the plan. It’s a prolonged absence that represents just the latest sign of the task force’s diminished role in the face of the worsening public health crisis it was originally created to combat.

Once a driving force behind the White House’s coronavirus messaging, the group hasn’t held a collective press briefing in months. Inside the West Wing, task force members’ growing alarm over the virus’ resurgence has gone largely ignored. And among health officials on the front lines, there is mounting consensus that the federal government has little new aid to offer – leaving states to face the pandemic’s third and potentially worst wave increasingly on their own.

“There’s not any acknowledgment or appreciation of the severity of the surge,” said an official in one governor’s office long frustrated with the federal response. “The stark reality that we’re facing is the White House – from top to bottom – has stopped governing and is only campaigning.”

The task force’s shrinking stature comes amid warnings that the nation is headed toward its darkest days since the beginning of the pandemic, as cases hit record highs and hospitals across several states struggle to deal with a fresh crush of Covid-19 patients.

After peaking at more than 85,000 cases in a single day last week, the U.S. is now averaging around 71,000 new daily diagnoses – the highest point so far this year. Hospitalizations are on the rise too, reaching numbers not seen since mid-August.

It’s a more expansive outbreak than during previous waves, when the coronavirus swamped the Northeast in April and tore through the South and West in July. On Thursday, cases were increasing across three dozen states.

Hospitals in states like Idaho, Utah, Texas and Wisconsin, which had been left relatively untouched by the pandemic in its early days, are now at risk of being overrun – with governors preparing to have the National Guard repurpose convention centers as field hospitals. In Montana, the nearly 300-bed Kalispell Regional Medical Center found itself so short-staffed earlier this month that it stopped quarantining employees exposed to Covid-19.

Indiana, meanwhile, has nearly 1,700 people in its hospitals and 470 patients in the ICU, the latter figure up 70 percent

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Political adviser sparked COVID-19 outbreak on VP Pence team

October 28, 2020 [email protected]_84 adviser, COVID19, outbreak, Pence, Political, sparked, team

By Alexandra Alper and Jeff Mason

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A political adviser to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is suspected of sparking an outbreak of the coronavirus on his team that sidelined a senior official days before the presidential election, according to a current White House official and a former official familiar with the matter.

Marty Obst, a political strategist for Pence, was determined by contact tracers from the White House Medical Unit to be the likely origin of the outbreak, the two people said.

Obst did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Obst, who does not draw a government salary, accompanied Pence to rallies in Bangor, Maine and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Monday, Oct. 19, the White House official said.

“If you had to pick a patient zero it was Marty and he brought it in from the outside,” the White House official said, declining to be named since he was not authorized to speak on the matter.

A spokesman for Pence said Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, had tested positive for the coronavirus over the weekend. Pence, who has faced criticism for keeping a busy campaign schedule despite being considered a close contact of Short, has tested negative in the days since.

The outbreak on Pence’s team, which follows closely on the heels of a flurry of cases in President Donald Trump’s inner circle, comes as coronavirus infections and hospitalizations are surging across the country.

That has kept Trump’s handling of the virus in the headlines ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Polls show Trump trailing Democratic rival and former Vice President Joe Biden, who is consistently seen by likely voters as better able to handle the pandemic.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Short defended the decision to keep Pence, the head of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, traveling in the final days of the campaign despite his possible exposure.

He noted the White House had encouraged other essential workers, such as ‘blue collar’ meat packers, to keep working even if they had close contact with someone later diagnosed with COVID-19, so they had set the same example.

“I think we’re actually following the guidelines that we established,” Short said, noting that he had experienced symptoms akin to a head cold but now felt good.

While Short was not deemed a close contact of Obst and continued with his regular schedule following Obst’s positive tests, three junior staffers who have since tested positive for the virus were already in quarantine due to exposure to Obst, a third person familiar with the matter said.

The person, who declined to be named, added that Pence has introduced new safety protocols, like wearing a mask on Marine 2, the helicopter that carries the vice president. The source said Pence remains masked and in his cabin during flights on Air Force 2, the name given to any plane carrying him.

“We have canceled regional interviews. He goes straight from the plane onto the stage. He

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Timeline of the week leading up to COVID-19 outbreak in Pence orbit

October 27, 2020 [email protected]_84 COVID19, leading, orbit, outbreak, Pence, timeline, Week

Vice President Mike Pence is committed to spending the final seven days of the 2020 election on the campaign trail, despite the fact that an outbreak of the coronavirus has struck his inner circle, including one of his closest confidants, Chief of Staff Marc Short. Seeing the busy schedule Pence and his team have kept up with, it’s possible the virus may have spread well beyond the confines of his office.

Mike Pence wearing a suit and tie standing in front of a flag: Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a campaign stop at the Hibbing, Minn., Airport, Oct. 26, 2020.

© Jack Rendulich/AP
Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a campaign stop at the Hibbing, Minn., Airport, Oct. 26, 2020.

In the last week, Pence has crisscrossed the country to over half a dozen states, holding 12 campaign rallies and two private events. He also cast his early vote in person while back home in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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ABC News has confirmed that along with Short, at least four others close to the vice president have tested positive for COVID-19 — and some are known to have accompanied Pence on his trips across the county. Other people in Pence’s inner circle who have tested positive include his top political aide, Marty Obst, and his bodyman, Zach Bauer. At least two others are now isolating after testing positive.

MORE: Here’s everyone who’s tested positive for COVID-19 in connection to the White House

Still, Pence’s press secretary, Devin O’Malley, said in a statement that Pence will not be quarantining after coming into close contact with Short, and will instead continue his jam-packed campaign schedule — a move that has worried experts.

Dr. John Brownstein, a Harvard epidemiologist and ABC News contributor, said that Pence “clearly meets the CDC definition” of COVID-19 exposure and should voluntarily be in quarantine.

“With even just one positive staffer, the VP should have put himself in a 14-day quarantine, especially as it relates to non-essential activities like political rallies,” Brownstein said. “The public should be worried if the vice president continues his intense travel schedule, which is counter to all public health guidelines. Negative tests do not change the need to adhere to quarantine.”

But Pence is carrying on with his schedule, with stops planned in North Carolina, South Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Nevada through Thursday.

Mike Pence et al. wearing costumes: Vice President Mike Pence greets supporters after his "Make America Great Again!" campaign event at Oakland County International Airport in Waterford, Oct. 22, 2020.

© Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images
Vice President Mike Pence greets supporters after his “Make America Great Again!” campaign event at Oakland County International Airport in Waterford, Oct. 22, 2020.

Here’s a look at all the places Pence has traveled to and the people he’s traveled with over the past week.

Monday, Oct. 19 Pence held two “Make America Great Again” rallies to start the week. One took place in Hermon, Maine, where Pence spoke to a few hundred people in an outdoor setting. Later that afternoon, he spoke at a rally inside an air hangar in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania.

Short, Obst and Bauer, Pence’s bodyman, both accompanied the vice president on the trip, along with spokeswoman Katie Miller, who tested positive for the coronavirus in May and whose husband, Stephen Miller, tested positive on Oct. 6.

Short

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Stephen Colbert: Mike Pence Is ‘America’s Spare Tire’

October 27, 2020 [email protected]_84 Americas, Colbert, Mike, Pence, Spare, Stephen, Tire

“That’s right, the coronavirus is spreading through the Coronavirus Task Force. But don’t worry, the White House is now forming a task force to figure out what went wrong with the task force.” — JIMMY FALLON

“Seriously, it doesn’t instill a lot of confidence that the head of the Coronavirus Task Force’s office got the coronavirus. It’s like if the Avengers got mugged.” — JIMMY FALLON

“As far as we know, the virus cannot be transmitted between humans and poodles so he should be OK.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“Yep, the only place the coronavirus is rounding the corner is in the halls of the White House.” — JIMMY FALLON

“Meanwhile, when Pence saw he was trending online, he was like, ‘Oh, no — do I have another fly on my head?’” — JIMMY FALLON

“That’s right, Pence will continue to campaign, ’cause not even Covid can stop people from seeing the electricity and raw sexual magnetism that is Mike Pence in person.” — JIMMY FALLON

“We wish them all a speedy recovery, of course we do, both from the virus and from thinking it was ever a good idea to work for Mike Pence.” — JAMES CORDEN

“Despite all of this, Pence himself still has not tested positive because even the virus isn’t interested in Mike Pence.” — JAMES CORDEN

“It’s like the coronavirus won the Super Bowl, except it already made trips to Disneyland and the White House.” — JIMMY FALLON

“In response this weekend, the White House dispatched chief of staff and last boy picked for the white pride kickball game, Mark Meadows. Yesterday, Meadows went on CNN to reassure a worried nation that you’re on your own.” — STEPHEN COLBERT

“The White House’s new plan to stop the virus is to stop trying to stop it.” — JIMMY KIMMEL

“Interesting, so the plan is to just let coronavirus spread freely throughout America? It’s interesting how zen Trump’s people are about this, you know, because with an immigrant child who came over the border, they’re like: ‘Zero tolerance! One is too many! We have to deport!’ But with a virus that’s killing hundreds of thousands of Americans they’re like: ‘Look, man, the virus is just trying to make a better life in our lungs. Who are we to stop it?’” — TREVOR NOAH

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Pence should ‘take our lead’ amid WH virus outbreak [Video]

October 26, 2020 [email protected]_84 Lead, outbreak, Pence, video, virus

A new coronavirus outbreak at the White House involving Vice President Mike Pence’s staff comes as the United States reported a near-record number of new cases on Saturday (October 24).

The United States reported 79,852 new infections on Saturday, closeclose to the previous day’s record of 84,244 new cases. Hospitalizations are also rising and have hit a two-month high and deaths are also trending upwards, according to a Reuters tally.

Late on Saturday a spokesman for Pence said Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, had tested positive for the new coronavirus. Pence and his wife tested negative earlier in the day and the vice president will not alter his schedule as he campaigns ahead of the Nov. 3 election, the spokesman said.

Speaking to reporters in Detroit on Sunday (October 25), Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris said Pence should adhere to CDC guidelines to avoid contracting and possibly spreading the virus.

“I think what we have modeled the right and good behavior, and they should take our lead, you know,” Harris said.

Earlier in the month, two members of Harris’ staff also tested positive for coronavirus.

Video Transcript

KAMALA HARRIS: Listen. He should be following the guidelines. We’re doing it. I think we have modeled the right and good behavior, and they should take our lead. They are admitting defeat. And I’ve been saying that, and Joe Biden has been saying that since the beginning. This is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of America.

Here in Michigan alone, over 3,000 new cases just yesterday. This week alone, nationally we are breaking records for the number of people that are contracting a deadly virus. And this administration fails to take personal responsibility or responsibility in terms of leading the nation through this dangerous and deadly mass-casualty event. And that’s why they have forfeited their right to a second term in office.

Source Article …

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Trump aide admits ‘we’re not going to control pandemic’ as Pence staff test positive

October 26, 2020 [email protected]_84 admits, Aide, Control, pandemic, Pence, positive, staff, test, Trump

Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff made an unusually candid admission on Sunday – that the administration does not intend to contain the coronavirus crisis.

a man wearing a suit and tie holding a umbrella: Photograph: Yuri Gripas/EPA

© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: Yuri Gripas/EPA

Related: Biden gains as suburban women and elderly voters turn backs on Trump

“We’re not going to control the pandemic,” Mark Meadows said, bluntly.

The former hard-right congressman from North Carolina made the revealing remark as confirmed cases of Covid-19 reached new peaks and hospitalisations rose rapidly in 38 states. The contagion also continues to ravage the White House itself, with the chief of staff to Mike Pence and four others in the vice-president’s inner circle having tested positive.

a man wearing a suit and tie holding a umbrella: Mark Meadows offers a thumbs up to members of the media outside the White House.

© Photograph: Yuri Gripas/EPA
Mark Meadows offers a thumbs up to members of the media outside the White House.

Meadows repeatedly sidestepped questions about the administration’s responsibility for combatting spread of the virus. Instead, in a contentious interview with CNN’s State of the Union, he highlighted what he called “mitigating” factors, including the search for a vaccine and new therapeutics that could bring down the death rate.

Even so, the number of deaths in the US is back up at about 1,000 a day.

Asked why the administration was not going to control the pandemic, Meadows replied: “Because it is a contagious virus.”

Turn on the television, Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid. On 4 November you won’t hear about it anymore

Donald Trump

Despite Pence being exposed to the disease, he planned to continue an aggressive campaign schedule in the final nine days of the race. Pence spoke at a rally in Kinston, North Carolina, on Sunday, where he did not address the positive cases in his entourage. He will be in Hibbing, Minnesota, on Monday before returning to events in North Carolina on Tuesday.

Such unbroken travel plans amounted to a breach of the recommendations of the Trump administration’s own public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They would require the vice-president to be in quarantine for 14 days and always to wear a mask around other people. Pence has frequently been seen maskless in public.

Such blatant disregard for the administration’s own health standards is doubly awkward given that Pence has led the White House coronavirus taskforce since late February. Dr Anthony Fauci, the most senior public health expert on the taskforce, said on Friday meetings had dwindled and Trump had not attended one in months.

Video: Trump claims coronavirus vaccine will be ready in ‘weeks’ (FOX News)

Trump claims coronavirus vaccine will be ready in ‘weeks’

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The White House said Pence was not required to follow the quarantine rule because he is deemed “essential personnel”. Asked why electioneering was classed “essential”, Meadows said the vice president continued to do his official work in between campaign stops.

Saskia Popescu, an infectious disease expert at George Mason University in Virginia, called Pence’s decision to travel “grossly negligent”.

“It’s just an insult to everybody who has

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New infections set records; Pence staffers test positive

October 25, 2020 [email protected]_84 infections, Pence, positive, records, Set, staffers, test

We answer the often searched question: “What are the symptoms of coronavirus versus the flu?”

USA TODAY

The White House chief of staff said Sunday the administration is “not going to control” the coronavirus pandemic as the daily total of U.S. cases surpassed 83,000 for the second day in a row, the two biggest one-day totals on record.

“What we need to do is make sure that we have the proper mitigation factors, whether it’s therapies or vaccines or treatments, to make sure that people don’t die from this,” Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”

Multiple aides to Vice President Mike Pence have being infected. Marc Short, Pence’s chief of staff, tested positive for COVID-19 Saturday, Pence’s spokesman said in a statement. CNN reported that at least two other staffers have tested positive in recent days while The New York Times reported that at least three others have tested positive.

Pence and his wife, Karen Pence, tested negative Saturday, and Pence will maintain his schedule without restrictions, his office said.

The rise in new cases continues unabated, and Johns Hopkins University reported more than 900 additional deaths Saturday. Almost 42,000 new hospitalizations were reported Saturday, according to the COVID Tracking Project. That is the most in a day in more than two months.

Here’s what to know today:

On Friday, the U.S. broke its record for daily infections when more than 83,700 new COVID-19 cases were recorded. Saturday’s total was also over 83,700. The previous high was set in July when the U.S. saw more than 77,300 new cases.
President Donald Trump’s outdoor campaign rally in Pensacola, Florida, on Saturday night drew a crowd of thousands — many without masks.
The Navajo Nation has a higher per capita COVID-19 death rate than any U.S. state, with 11,101 infections and 574 confirmed deaths as of Thursday.

📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has reported over 8.6 million cases and more than 225,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: 42.8 million cases and 1.15 million deaths.

🗺️ Mapping coronavirus: Track the U.S. outbreak in your state.

When will there be a COVID-19 vaccine? Our panel of experts expects at least one COVID-19 vaccine will be approved in the coming months. Then things could really get complicated.

Trump aide: ‘We’re not going to control the pandemic’

President Donald Trump’s chief of staff said Sunday the Trump administration would not “control” the spread of COVID-19 and is focusing on cures instead. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and others have criticized the Trump administration for not trying to slow the spread of the virus, citing actions ranging from the president’s mocking of mask wearing to his insistence on holding campaign rallies with maskless people packed close together.

“We’re not going to control the pandemic,” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN’s “State of the Union.” Meadows added, “we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other

health

Health specialists question Pence campaigning as essential work

October 25, 2020 [email protected]_84 campaigning, Essential, health, Pence, question, Specialists, Work

Health policy specialists questioned White House officials’ claim that federal rules on essential workers allow Vice President Mike Pence to continue to campaign and not quarantine himself after being exposed to the coronavirus.

Campaigning is not an official duty that might fall under the guidelines meant to ensure that police, first responders, and key transportation and food workers can still perform jobs that cannot be done remotely, the health specialists said.

A Pence aide said Sunday that the vice president would continue to work and travel, including for campaigning, after his chief of staff and some other close contacts tested positive. Pence tested negative on Sunday and decided to keep traveling after consulting White House medical personnel, his aides said.

Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, was among those who tested positive. President Trump, said early Sunday that Short was quarantining.

That usually means isolating oneself for 14 days after exposure in case an infection is developing, to prevent spreading the virus to others.

Pence was holding a rally Sunday in North Carolina, events in Minnesota and Pennsylvania on Monday, and more events in North Carolina and South Carolina on Tuesday. The most recent numbers show COVID-19 cases are rising in 75 percent of the country.

On Sunday, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien told reporters that Pence “is following all the rules” from federal health officials. He called Pence “an essential worker” and said, “essential workers going out and campaigning and voting are about as essential as things we can do as Americans.”

However, the guidelines on essential workers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are aimed at folks like police, first responders, and key transportation and food workers.

The Department of Homeland Security spells out 16 categories of critical infrastructure workers, including those at military bases, nuclear power sites, courthouses, and public works facilities like dams and water plants.

“I don’t see campaigning on the list,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, vice dean for public health practice at Johns Hopkins University and former Maryland state Health Department chief. “Anything that does not have to be done in person and anything not related to his job as vice president would not be considered essential.”

Dr. Thomas Tsai, a health policy specialist at Harvard University, agreed.

Helping to maintain the function of the executive branch of government could be considered critical work, but “we’ve always historically separated campaigning from official duties,” he said.

Pence also serves as president of the Senate, a largely ceremonial role outlined in the Constitution but one that stands to come into focus Monday.

The Senate was expected to vote Monday evening to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett. Pence’s vote is unlikely to be needed to break a tie, but his presence was expected for the vote.

If Pence’s official work as vice president was considered essential, the CDC guidelines say he should be closely monitored for COVID-19 symptoms, stay at least 6 feet from others, and wear a mask “at all times

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Dr. Adalja advises Pence to self-quarantine despite negative coronavirus test after aides test positive

October 25, 2020 [email protected]_84 Adalja, advises, Aides, coronavirus, Negative, Pence, positive, selfquarantine, test

Infectious disease expert Dr. Amesh Adalja told “America’s News Headquarters” on Sunday that he would advise Vice President Mike Pence to cancel any travel and self-quarantine after four staffers and an outside adviser tested positive for the coronavirus.

Pence, who with second lady Karen Pence tested negative Sunday, is still at “significant” risk of exposure. Nine days from Election Day, he plans to maintain his planning campaign travel to Kinston, N.C., Sunday, his office said.

“The vice president is at very high risk for developing coronavirus,” Adalja said. “Him getting daily tests is only going to take the risk down a little bit. There probably is a need for him to self-quarantine for 14 days based on the amount of people around him that are positive.”

5 CLOSE TO PENCE TEST POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS, VP TO MAINTAIN CAMPAIGN SCHEDULE, OFFICE SAYS

Adalja said he’d like to know the nature of the interactions Pence has had with his aides prior to confirmed infection, and if masking was involved.

Pence waves to supporters Saturday Oct. 24, 2020 in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon)

Adalja said he “can’t say that it’s safe” to continue to campaign.

“He likely was significantly exposed,” he said. “And we know that a test is just one moment in time and that you can’t test yourself out of self-quarantine.”

Adalja suggested Pence follows Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance surrounding coronavirus exposure by quarantining regardless of test results, holding the vice president to the standard “every American is held to.”

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The New York Times is reporting White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has tried to keep news of the recent outbreak quiet, which Adalja said is a public safety hazard.

“You want to be as transparent as possible,” he said. “And we want people to know who might’ve interacted with the vice president that they could’ve been significantly exposed. … That’s how we move forward in this pandemic is being very open about who’s at risk.”

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Health experts question Pence campaigning as essential work

October 25, 2020 [email protected]_84 campaigning, Essential, experts, health, Pence, question, Work

Health policy specialists are questioning Vice President Mike Pence’s claim that federal rules on essential workers allow him to continue to campaign and not quarantine himself after exposure to multiple close staffers with COVID-19

October 25, 2020, 6:13 PM

4 min read

Campaigning is not an official duty that might fall under the guidelines meant to ensure that police, first responders and key transportation and food workers can still perform jobs that cannot be done remotely, the health experts said.

Pence’s chief of staff, Marc Short, was among those who tested positive. President Donald Trump, said early Sunday that Short was quarantining.

That usually means isolating oneself for 14 days after exposure in case an infection is developing, to prevent spreading the virus to others.

Pence was holding a rally Sunday in North Carolina, another one in Minnesota on Monday and three events in North Carolina and South Carolina on Tuesday. The most recent numbers show COVID-19 cases are rising in 75% of the country.

On Sunday, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien told reporters that Pence “is following all the rules” from federal health officials. He called Pence “an essential worker” and said, “essential workers going out and campaigning and voting are about as essential as things we can do as Americans.”

However, the guidelines on essential workers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are aimed at folks like police, first responders and key transportation and food workers.

The Department of Homeland Security spells out 16 categories of critical infrastructure workers, including those at military bases, nuclear power sites, courthouses and public works facilities like dams and water plants.

“I don’t see campaigning on the list,” said Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, vice dean for public health practice at Johns Hopkins University and former Maryland state health department chief. “Anything that does not have to be done in person and anything not related to his job as vice president would not be considered essential.”

Dr. Thomas Tsai, a health policy specialist at Harvard University, agreed.

Helping to maintain the function of the executive branch of government could be considered critical work, but “we’ve always historically separated campaigning from official duties,” he said.

Pence also serves as president of the Senate, a largely ceremonial role outlined in the Constitution but one that stands to come into focus Monday.

The Senate was expected to vote Monday evening to confirm Trump’s Supreme Court

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