In a 2001, when Pence was running for Congress, he wrote a post on his campaign website warning against "the worst kind of Washington-speak" about regulating tobacco.
"Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill. In fact, 2 out of every 3 smokers does not die from a smoking related illness and 9 out of ten smokers do not contract lung cancer."
So said ol' Pence, on his website.
Pence also said that "back handed big government disguised in do-gooder health care rhetoric" would be "more harmful to the nation" than second-hand smoke. He also equated the dangers of smoking to fatty foods, caffeine and sports utility vehicles.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says "people who smoke cigarettes are 15 to 30 times more likely to get lung cancer or die from lung cancer than people who do not smoke."
Years later, in Congress, Pence voted against legislation giving the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate the tobacco industry and adding new warning labels to tobacco products and ads. The bill passed, and President Obama signed it into law.
Pence....the bloke in charge of this new pandemic.
In his words: "God Help Us."
8
The coronavirus mismanagement buck stops at the president’s desk and he can’t avoid responsibility for a disastrous outcome by shifting the blame to Pence. Pence is patently unqualified to manage this crisis, but for whatever twisted reasons, Trump saw fit to appoint him Virus Czar. Trump, not Pence, made that ridiculous and dangerous decision. (I doubt that Pence asked for the job, even though it’s possible that he views a pandemic as a great way to hasten the end of days.) It will be the Trump administration, not Mike Pence, that history will judge for the mishandling of this crisis. Does anyone even remember Michael DeWayne Brown, the Bush appointee who was so tragically unequal to handling the response to Katrina? I had to look up his name. All that matters is that the disaster happened on Bush’s watch and “Brownie” worked for Bush. Trump may throw Pence under the bus if things go badly, but he can’t escape responsibility. Trump owns this.
6
President Trump does not have the leadership skills to steer us out of a pandemic; this is not about him, or politics, or even the stock market. Putting Mulvaney on the pulpit to say it's a hoax, lying about the number of confirmed cases in the U.S., and asking VP Pence to "control the message" will result in the death of thousands or even millions of Americans. I am begging senators, congresspersons, governors, and anybody with influence to either sideline President Trump until the crisis is mitigated, or to put an uncensored scientist in charge of the war against Covid-19.
6
My cat has as much knowledge and healthcare experience as Pence.
5
Pence is the perfect guy to head up the Medieval Medical Response Team! Just like they did back during the bubonic plague, he'll be sending "carts and prayers, carts and prayers."
14
Best at doing least.
3
Kakistocracy: Look it up. Vote it out.
7
Pence 2000 "Smoking does not cause lung cancer". Says it all.
13
It seems like when you are an ignorant cannot lead neither take initiatives and, to make it worst, delegate in someone else who happens to be worst than yourself. And, this is what is happening here. what else can you expect from a President that doesn't know and wants to make people believe he knows everything?
Wondering until when we will be suffering the effects of the ignorance that prevails in the White House.
5
If the VP's first action was to put a gag order on Dr Fauci, one of the world's leading expert on public health and epidemiology, then we know he is a choir of one...for 45 and Mulvaeny on back up vocals. The sychopathy is now beyond the pale. The crisis will grow, the market will collapse and on all levels incompetence will reign. Until I see 45 with a mask, I'll not believe anything this administration says.
9
Pence is a political leader, not a medical or public health scientist. His job is to direct resources to them, not to do their work. There is nothing to criticize here, although the NYT with its visceral hatred of everything associated with the Republican party stoops to do so.
6
Thoughts and prayers...
6
I'd ignore anything out of this administration. Listen to virologists who are speaking out on TV and talking to the NYT/WAPO etc. Pence is in that slot to take the heat off dump and be a scapegoat (which he deserves). The man is anti-science for Pete's sake. Wash and sanitize your hands; keep away from the coughers.
6
Expanding Medicaid and providing safe needle exchanges---the NYT can find fault with anything, even policies it endorses.
1
His assault on Planned Parenthood closed the very clinics that were testing for HIV. The article reads a mixed bag to me; did you even read it?
5
It’s a very very sick proposition to the American people to put someone SO unqualified and SO incompetent to run something of such great national importance, OUR LIVES...in this man’s hands.
8
He has experience quarantining men and women.
2
I thought Pence was a cardboard image. You mean to tell me he's actually alive?
8
Good grief!!! The Peter Principle now being applied to a “life and death” national health emergency. ( Although Pence is an expert in praying.)
6
So how many children do the Pence's have? He's such a good Catholic that he should have 11 or 12. I think there are so many hypocritical Catholics with 2 children who are ridden with guilt Just look at the pews at Mass.
4
So he took time to pray on it! All he needed to do was act like a real Christian not some phony Evangelical. remember Jesus said" what you do for the least of you, you do for me"
6
Well they had to give him something to do.
His walking around the West Wing bugging people with “Got anything I can do? Any work I can help with?” was getting on WH staffers’ nerves. “Here Mike. See what you can do with this virus thing. “
And of course as he will not be alone, face to face, with women, he is doing his bit for controlling contagion.
3
Mr. Pence, as toady to the egregiously criminal and personally reprobate Mr. Trump, has lost every shred of sympathy or respect, as little as he may have deserved them in any case, that he might have had as Congressman, an extreme right-wing member of the House for several sessions, a right-extremist AM band talk radio "host" and right-wing Indiana governor.
This appointment is a pathetic and typical public relations, propagandistic effort by Mr. Trump and his minions to pretend that they are doing something intelligent and constructive, while Mr. Trump continues to spend most of his time golfing, tweeting nonsense, becoming more obese on cheeseburgers, spray-painting his face orange and arranging his comb-over hair with spray-on glue. Mind-boggling in every negative sense, but typical Trumpianism with Mr. Pence happily going along with the gross incompetence and venality of everything Trump.
4
Mike Pence is to public health as Betsy DeVos is to education.
17
This nation is in grave danger. We need our vast and well-educated scientific/medical community to lead us forward.
How awful is it that pence, who knows nothing about science or medicine, is "appointed " to oversee this nations virus response.
Pay no attention to this buffoon. He has a proven track record of disease promotion in Indiana, as this article states. Probably because he though he could get rid of a few homosexuals and IV drug users. Pathetic ignorance.
He'll be issuing medical exorcisms to rid people of this infection. That would be better than giving him ANY control
in this situation. I urge everyone to turn away from pence and trump. They will destroy us.
Listen to science. It's the only thing that can save you now!!
5
Yes, let’s put Mike Pence in charge, at least until the emergency is over... say, in November. It’s time to take the 25th amendment seriously, and remove Trump before a bunch of voters die.
4
I can't imagine someone who is less qualified to hold this position. I'd feel better if they picked a random person off the street to be the cornovirus czar.
4
What is it about the word "evangelical" obfuscates some christian's thinking
2
He has kept his mouth shut. He is the ghost VP. Well done Pence.
2
He could have picked John Anthony Barrasso who is a loyalist but who trained as a doctor.
2
Duh .... Pence has done nothing regarding the health of Americans. When I see him on TV he makes me sad .... he never smiles. Maybe he needs to see a dentist ....l
3
Mike Pence would probably prefer to lead us in prayer and sprinkle us with holy water, like they did during the black plaque. He disliked any science that doesn't confirm his beliefs,
6
No buck stopping with Trump unless that buck is going right into his pocket. Nope. True to form, he won’t own this big bomb but toss it right over to his dim lackey Pence. Pence deserves this shove under the bus. He knew in his holier than thou heart the big Corona was coming in one form or another. Control the messaging??!! What does that mean? You mean the spin? Ugh. They should just change the “messaging” of the Emergency Broadcast System now. “This is an actual emergency and we got nothing for you. You are on your own folks. There are no instructions about what to do. There is no where to go.” Remember Katrina? We knew that storm was coming. Pence is Trump’s Brownie.
4
Mr. Pence, as Indiana's 'Ayatollah_Governor', tried to pray HIV, (due to needle sharing), away, with disastrous results!
While the precise number of avoidable HIV-Infections thus occurring has been the subject of speculation...it has been reliably, reported that there were 'several hundred' HIV-transmissions, which, otherwise, WOULDN'T have occurred...had a scientifically sensible course of action, (a '1-for-1' needle exchange), been undertaken!
That Trump...
Obviously, worried, about the stock market's reelection effects, (Vs. morbidity / mortality issues in people, infected), appointed this Xian_Jihadist, (Pence), to mismanage the C-9-virus situation IS tragic / is NOT surprising...
When Pence screws it up, Pence's presidential aspirations will disappear faster than an exploding spacecraft!
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/pence-s-handling-2015-hiv-outbreak-gets-new-scrutiny-n1144786
1
The mummified VP — with the Trump-adoring smile stitched into his unblinking reptilian gaze — denies science, lives on ideologies that marginalize and demean the Other, is terrified of women, and is singularly unqualified to lead any body or task force related to COVID-19. Pence couldn’t organize a marshmallow roast.
3
Remember "Heck of a Job, Brownie"--well, Trump's version is "Heck of a Job, Pencie"
1
What else did you expect from the administration of misfits ?? I hope the virus wipes out a whole lot of the deplorables , they certainly deserve each other .. Yeah he'll still be praying long after a few thousand are six feet under .
3
One tool appointing another tool
1
On the story pages and in the comments right here in the NY Times, I have seen Pence described as a "botched taxidermy experiment" and a "wax museum figure".
On the positive side, from what I can tell, I have seen nothing that would argue against those characterizations.
On the negative side, from what I know about him, those two descriptions are too generous. He apparently has no important knowledge or skills to bring to an effort to marshal a medical fight against a pandemic. Every time I have seen him, he looks like a store mannequin. His main purpose in life seems to be sucking air, absorbing taxpayer dollars, and nodding 'yes' whenever Trump tells him to. Pence appears to be just waiting for Trump's high blood pressure, obesity, liver disease and/or the father of one of Trump's Lolita Express "playmate's" to catch up to him.
What could Pence possibly bring to a pandemic-fighting party ?
3
One major problem with appointing Pence to lead the response is that he has as little credibility in telling the truth as Trump does.
Most people (and the markets) won’t believe a word he says or even the words of others who may speak on the administrations behalf.
Trump and the republicans have dug this hole themselves and can’t blame the media or liberals for this crisis.
And his base, who have either supported or tolerated the administration’s lies, now have a new issue to contend with, one when the lies are a matter of life and death.
3
The single point of contact for the latest on the Coronavirus should not be a politician but a trustworthy individual with a medical/scientific background who is knowledgeable about contagious diseases. Mike Pence, a politician and Trump sycophant, does not meet that criteria. He was chosen so that the White House can maintain control of the message by filtering news of developments through a political strainer to make Donald Trump look good. That is because Trump is more interested in what happens to the stock market than the spread of the pandemic. If he were genuinely concerned about the potential disastrous consequences of the Coronavirus for Americans, he would have put a credible, non-partisan medical expert in charge instead of Pence. Some things should rise above politics and the pandemic is one of them. Otherwise, nothing is sacred. The sociopath, Trump, knows no shame.
2
If it doesn’t go well, he can be the fall guy and trump can pick a new running mate.
2
It’s a shocking choice. Pence is not a science guy. He’s against teaching evolution, and he probably believes the earth is only 10,000 years old. Fighting a virus requires more than thoughts and prayers. It requires an understanding of virology, medicine, public health and epidemiology. Pence has none of those things. In fact, he’s probably against all of those things. What’s next, flat earth people running NASA?
4
There is nothing worse than misinformation and lies in a situation of public emergency. This administration has been dishonest, day after day, for more than three years. Now Pence wants us to believe him? No, thanks.
November 2020 is closer than ever.
2
I believe Trump is doing this so that he can throw Pence under the bus when the outbreak arrives in the US in a bigger way.
1
The internal conversation going in in Mike Pence's head must be mind-blowing. How he justifies to himself his support of - or even association with - a mendacious and adulterous man who has stiffed any businesses he can bully into giving up on what he owes them is mind boggling.
Will he ever explain this? I hope so - inquiring minds want to know!
2
It's highly likely that VP Pence believes the corona virus is God's will..
1
The question should be what Mike Pence has done TO health.
1
Pence has done nothing. Period. Except look adoringly at Trump much as Nancy did with Reagan. Me thinks Trump is planning to throw him under the bus to make room for Nikki Haley as his running mate.
2
Putting the politics of the health insurance industry aside (which is another woeful conversation), the weaponization of public health outcomes by the Republican Party in recent decades should be considered criminal negligence by the American public during our next election. Scott County, Indiana is just 35 miles up I-65 from the city I live in, and Pence's response to the HIV outbreak there was frightening, especially since his religious-based stupidity could easily affect where I live, despite not voting for him.
2
As the socialist echo chamber that is the comment section of the NYT continues to giggle and ridicule Pence for being a believer in God, the fact remains that under his leadership, the State of Indiana implemented the Health Indiana Plan that is now the model for how The Federal Government is reforming Medicare and Medicaid. In fact, Sean Verma, the Administrator of CMS had the same role for the State of Indiana before being brought to Washington by Trump. The basic tenant of Medicaid enrollees having financial skin in the game started in Indiana and has moved to the Federal level via Pence and Verma. This tenant is 100 percent in keeping with how Republicans view how Medicaid should be structured.
@William "tenant", er, I believe the word is "tenet". Not only that, but Mr. Pence deserves every bit of ridicule heaped upon him due to an adult life of extreme-rightist, so-called "Christian" fundamentalism. The Christianity practiced having nothing to do with fundamental Christian or Judaic teachings.
2
In February, 2016, Trump gushed, 'I love the poorly educated'. He and Republicans sure do love the "poorly educated" so so much that they have appointed them to head governmental departments they know nothing about. Which brings us to Mike Pence, Indiana's very own "Plastic Jesus" or Mike, the Shun-ner; ( of compassion, of knowledge, of science, of the needy, of all of God's children (Mike has a short-list and so on)
Thank you, NY Times, for not shunning his record and the facts.
2
Mike Pence will probably recommend prayer and holy water as they did during the Black Plaque. His enmity to science that does not match his religious beliefs and politics is a bad omen.
Denial is the pattern for dictators as we have seen in China and Iran, and are already seeing here with all those triumphant claims so early in the game being made by Trump.
1
Like President Meyer selecting VP James to head a banking task-force.
I'm ill just thinking about Pence.
1
He's just a placeholder for a ghost.
1
Three thoughts:
1. I would *love* for Pence and his extended family to live below the poverty line for a year, in an isolated and undisclosed location such that no one could slip them little luxuries. Maybe that would give him a new perspective on what poverty does to a person, and why it's inhumane to ask the poor to scramble to find some way to pay a premium for something that's a basic right in every developed nation in the world (and some undeveloped).
2. I would love for Pence to have to fill out, with zero help, all of the burdensome forms that are required if one is to receive benefits.
3. Funny how these ultra-religious science-deniers never stop to think that maybe -- just *maybe* -- God has given some people the intellect to solve our most pressing problems, and therefore we should listen to them. I mean, no one every prayed a highway into existence.
Please vote these sociopaths out of office. If you're a so-called moderate who's on the fence about any of the Dem nominees, remember that Congress is centrist -- there's no way that any progressive will pass more than a fraction of his/her agenda. But if you abstain or vote red, this nation will not survive, period. Democracy won't survive; the climate crisis will engulf us; and the next pandemic will kill you or someone you dearly love.
So vote blue, in every race.
3
Maybe Pence was selected because cardboard cutouts are immune to any known virus.
1
The best place to get accurate and timely info on this may be a blue state health department web site. They all have epidemiologists and public health experts on staff, and will be able to speak truthfully, since they do not need to have their statements approved by the VP’s office in the Ministry of Truth (see: “1984”).
1
Pence was appointed to be point man on coronavirus on Wednesday night.
What did Pence do yesterday? .......assemble a team of top doctors? ....meet with world health leaders?
No. He ventured off to the CPAC convention to hang out and give a highly partisan speech praising the leadership of his boss. Then he went on Hannity last night. Today he's heading to Florida for a fundraiser.
1
Trump eventually throws all who work for/with him under the Bus. Just look at the road in the wake behind him littered with dead political sacrifices who either were forced to resign, fired, or worse. The only people who have seemed to dodge this fate since the beginning are Mike Pence and Kelly Ann Conway. Well now it’s Mike Pence’s turn. Trump is setting him up to be the fall guy in the event this Corona Virus thing goes sideways in the US. Pence probably thinks he’s smarter than Trump and can out-maneuver Trump on this issue, but to me the handwriting is on the wall, and Pence better start preparing for serious blowback.
1
Listen up, me pretties!
The Adorer of the MAGA should be able, if nothing else, to assume the prayer leadership of the planet 's anti-science stance. And, there seems to be a reciprocal relationship between the coronavirus pandemic intensity and the veep's continued lid-drop proclivities whenever he's in the presence of the Adored leader of the infected world.
MAGA, Make America Germed Again.
1
I thought Trump appointed Pence so that if anything went wrong with this virus, he could blame Pence.
1
Trump pumping up somebody else's resume for a change. Pence is a lap dog. He was a failed governor who was going nowhere when Trump was shopping for a lap dog. I wouldn't hire Pence to do anything of critical importance.
1
what is most likely to happen is that Pence will drag his feet on lifesaving measures and then the Democrats will be blamed
1
another trump boot licker, way out of his element. i've stopped saying, "can it get worse."
2
Pence is the sap that will be holding the bag Trump gave him.
1
No worries.
Pence will start community prayer meetings to pray the Coronavirus away.
Just think of the power of the prayers, all those people gathered together in one place, holding hands and praying.
What could possibly go wrong?
3
I did notice that the photo halfway down the story had 'HIP' and Mr Pence in the same frame, this was an unfortunate negative reality inversion where the quantum realm placed these two conflicting things in the same place at the same time, luckily on the planet Thawg in an outer ring of the Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier Object 104) Rooodnot the mighty had just managed to trip and fall backwards onto a long dead veegee mouse bottom first, thereby eating his breakfast in reverse. As both events were utterly absurd and equally unlikely they managed to cancel one another out thus saving the entire universe from collapsing in on itself in an absurdity implosion event. I am sure i am not the only one to notice this improbable image and ask the NYT to be a little more careful when using such dangerous photographs in the future as one cannot be sure that there may be residual improbability matter attached to such an image which may induce illness, mild dry retching or a rash.
1
Pence is to healthcare as Jared is to international diplomacy
2
Hopefully he continues to delegate and defer to experts in the CDC and elsewhere like he did in Indiana.
Otherwise we better all join him in saying some prayers.
“At the time, the C.D.C. praised the hospital where the patient had shown up in the emergency room for its infection control, including its rapid isolation of about 50 hospital workers who were exposed to the patient. Mr. Pence’s role was largely receiving updates from the state health department.”
4
“Through the Health Indiana Plan model of Medicaid expansion, we learned firsthand the immense value of health insurance as a tool for responding to public health crises,”....we need health care to prove health care works? really? so we need education to prove education works! we need stop signs to prove stop signs work! I could go on but....
6
Mike "wax-museum" Pence is probably not one of the more enlightened choices to head the nation's coronovirus response. We can count on him to mute the message as Trump's mouthpiece, and his anti-science stance is in direct contradiction to the science-based approach to deal with a global epidemic. I have little faith that he can really do anything effective or impressive--a leader he is not. I hope I'm wrong.
15
@Birdygirl you won’t be wrong and actually I think it’s a great choice!! It just continues to show the entire administration’s incompetence and l am positive that pence will praise and pray for all of us to see the light.
1
We have a crisis that requires a science-based approach and it's been handed off to a person who has to pray to a mythical sky being before he decides to take action. Am I the only one who doesn't feel safer with Pence at the helm on this issue?
22
@Publius I'm a staunch Episcopalian and *I* think Pence is the wrong guy for the job. Science and religion are only incompatible if you choose to make them so, which he has done.
11
Pence is also a climate change denier so certainly he should make the decisions and informative information about the coronavirus....he does get special instructions from a higher power and then takes time to appraise it....People can wait .....and now this is almost a national emergency like trumps wall. The coronavirus is an equal opportunity disease......
1
The coronavirus does not just target the poor, immigrant, female, LGBTQ or middle-class. If it did, with Mike Pence in charge, those groups might be in big trouble. But Mr. Pence, and much of the male, middle-aged and older Senate, may be particularly vulnerable to the deadly effects of this coronavirus. So you can bet they'll get something done, I only hope their expert instinct for self-preservation will benefit all of us.
23
@John K Their instinct for self preservation runs deep. However, so far, it has only been tested to the extent of getting them to convince their fathers to buy false medical diagnoses for them, and thus obtain draft deferments. In Trump's case, it was severe (even life-threatening ; wink-wink) bone spurs.
The other reason I don't think either Pence or Trump is going to save all those old white males is, they are both looking out for only one person. Themselves. Numero uno. That's the nature of pathological narcissism.
4
It seems that unlike Senate Majority leader Mitch---whom I despise---GOP leaders are more reasonable than what Democrats think. If only legislators can work together instead of casting spells and insults at each other, care something other than merely "winning" and "losing", healthcare reform is more bipartisan than likes such as Trump believe.
7
How accurate are the numbers coming from China? Won’t this be the same here in the U.S. since he appointed the VP who can do a cover-up as well? There is no transparency when he appoints someone with zero expertise.
28
What Has Mike Pence Done? He has let Trump speak for him, over him, around him, and under cut him. He has sat quietly and let this happen. He has let Trump speak words, thoughts, and tweets that Pence would never allow among his faith friends.
Pence was appointed to handle coronavirus so that Trump could do whatever he wanted. Any other official, with integrity, would not allow Trump to make the decisions about our health and safety. Our president does not care about our health and safety.
72
@Peters
Mike Pence's "faith friends," as you describe them (by whom I think you mean evangelical Christians), made the decision to view Trump as a means to an end. Their sole goal is to have Roe vs. Wade repealed by the Supreme Court. They're willing to accept Trump's amorality as collateral damage that justifies that goal. I think Pence is a political hack who actually believes his acquiescence and hypocrisy give him a shot at the Presidency.
5
@Peters Just watch...there will be a medal of honor waiting for Pence when this is over.
3
Perhaps a most critical time in our recent history and Trump appoints an anti-science, happy face all the time boot licker to 'head up' our response to this grave threat.
He'll ignore all the sound advice scientists and public health experts give him until it's super clear that their advice is right.
I guess it could have been worse: if Trump had decided to head it up. But that's about all you can say here.
69
@A2er Frankly, I'm surprised he didn't put Jared Kushner in charge. He's handled the opioid crisis so well, and negotiated peace in the Middle East. He's also reforming the VA and the prisons, and in charge of diplomacy with China and Mexico. Well, yeah, there's that business about the wall, but certainly Jared can handle on more thing.
4
Not surprising at all ; no one in Trump's cabinet are qualified for their positions and those that are are his yes men . To treat this outbreak as more of the same is criminal ; more so since all the medical professionals that are qualified have to consult Pence before any decision is made . Their ineptness , and politicization of a serious situation about to become a pandemic is on the verge of becoming a deadly choice for many Americans . This is still America , not China where Xi and the politburo control and hide information .
24
Pence has been working hard to roll back women's sexual reproductive health rights, especially through UN forums -- so globally. Right now, a US team from DC is building allies among UN diplomats in NY to push "pro-family" agenda against LGBTQ rights at the annual women's rights conference in March.
25
How lucky are we to have someone who said “smoking doesn’t kill” leading the effort to protect us against the coronavirus? If you want to really get scared, check out the profile of Pence in the Jan/Feb 2018 edition of The Atlantic.
59
Re: "...How lucky are we to have someone who said “smoking doesn’t kill” leading the effort to protect us, etc.? {@Hoss Cartwright}
Quote: "...Greg Millett, director of public policy at amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, said Indiana's HIV outbreak would have been “entirely preventable” if Pence had acted earlier in response to data that was available to Indiana public health officials and clearly showed an outbreak was imminent.
The outbreak primarily infected intravenous users of the painkiller Opana in an impoverished, rural area with few health resources. The needle exchange Pence finally approved for Scott Co. successfully curbed the epidemic's spread by providing clean needles to IV drug users to reduce needle-sharing that spreads HIV, hepatitis C and other diseases..."
URL: '...https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/pence-s-handling-2015-hiv-outbreak-gets-new-scrutiny-n1144786'
1
Complicit!
the president and his minions endanger all Americans with uninformed decisions made to protect trump rather than improve national security and our safety.
Where’s the pandemic task force? Oh yeah. Fired.
trump is great at firing people and installing unfit friends and family members into positions that require experts with experience and logic.
40
I have just reviewed the proposed Guidance document by the Council for Environmental Quality for federal agencies in their role of assessing environmental impact. Naming Pence as the coronavirus czar is consistent with the strangling of real science and distancing of scientists and engineers from the decision-making that the CEQ has written into the Guidance document. The Trump administration attacks environmental and public health science on all fronts.
Example: the Guidance document's definition of "reasonably foreseeable" means foreseeable by "an ordinary person of prudence". This is very different from what is reasonably foreseeable by a trained and experienced environmental scientist or engineer. Important environmental decisions are allotted to "an ordinary person of prudence" in the Guidance document. Ignorant, incompetent people would be making the decisions about air and water quality, ecosystems, disruption of human communities, and long-term environmental damage.
The Trump administration is taking us back to the Dark Ages. Now we have a potential public health being addressed by someone who isn't even "an ordinary person of prudence." He is an ideologue with an anti-science agenda coupled with a real dislike of most of us.
36
The one salient defined aspect of Pence's job as corona-virus czar is that ALL government communication and announcements regarding the progress of the pandemic (soon to be epidemic) must be cleared through him.
So, the VP will not be working o anything concrete in terms of limiting the spread of the disease and the prevention of deaths, he will be tasked with being the head PR guru.
Because that's what is really needed now, tightly controlled partisan messaging. The virus will thus collapse in disarray.
27
Notice how Jared (and Ivanka) have stayed out of this time-bomb. Trump is cagey enough to see the potential issue with controlling this virus and he chose a good scapegoat to throw under the bus when and if it hits the fan!
42
Historians say that the 1918 flu was made worse by President Woodrow Wilson’s efforts to pretend everything was just fine.
Looks like we are repeating the same playbook with President Trump.
54
If the Vice-President does a good job dealing with this he has an excellent chance of being elected President in 2024 after Trump finishes his second term. He needs a few resume builders which Trump can help him acquire. Waste no time.
3
@JW That word "if" is doing a lot of work there.
Trump is putting distance between himself and Coronavirus. And Pence. Should the veep’s efforts fail, that new dress Nikki Haley just bought will be on full display just in time for the general election.
42
Until we get our national briefings from recognized and trusted medical experts look for massive and growing distrust by the general population. This is a health crisis, this is real life, and distrust will eventually seep into even the most fervent believers who cannot deal with the painful cognitive dissonance created by what they are told versus what they know to be true.
31
@Dave Ryan,
I'm not sure even medical experts standing next to someone from the administration could be trusted to say what they really want to say.
at this point, the only reliable sources seem to be those that have discovered incompetence and carelessness, perhaps crime, and have turned whistle-blowers.
16
Pence is there to control the message - saving people, healthcare and lives are all secondary.
94
I suspect Trump is putting him in charge so he can distance himself from the outbreak, being too closely associated with it (and the toll it takes on the stock market) won't be good for his re-election.
80
How different is Pence’s role in the coronavirus outbreak response effort from that of Communist Party minders in countless activities in the Soviet Union. Pence’s presence can have nothing other than a political purpose. We can expect him to be an impediment to those who are simply trying to do the best job possible with limited resources.
61
Thank you for this factual review of VP Pence’s record in Indiana. As someone who lived there during the period covered, I can attest to its accuracy.
Mike Pence is an evangelical Christian, as you point out. But as his response to HIV patients in Indiana makes clear, that is not to be confused with the gospel of Jesus Christ attested by Scripture and embraced by the global, mainstream church.
Indeed, in its attitude to science, health, and human suffering, as to so much else, evangelicalism is showing itself in the Trump era to be a sect, a massive failure to grasp the most basic truths of Christian faith.
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Pence is not in charge of anything. He's simply acting as gatekeeper to make sure the press and the American Public, don't get any realistic and useful information about the disease until it's too late. His only concern is the stock market. We will get nothing but upbeat -- and false -- info until local health officials start ignoring anything that comes out of his office. By then the U.S. infections will be in the tens of thousands.
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