Vice President Mike Pence described a world in which he and President Trump led Americans’ heroic effort to defeat the coronavirus during last night’s vice presidential debate. The problem is, he described a world that doesn’t exist.
Why it matters: The coronavirus is very much not in control in the U.S., and America’s failed response begins with the individual actions of the president and the vice president themselves.
- Instead of defending the administration’s decisions and behaviors, Pence acted as if they never happened.
What Pence said: Trump’s decision to shut down travel from China “bought us invaluable time to stand up the greatest national mobilization since World War II, and I believe it saved hundreds of thousands of American lives.”
- Reality check: The administration botched the initial response to the pandemic, producing a faulty diagnostic test and failing to stop the virus from taking hold across the U.S.
- Despite the travel ban, the virus clearly found its way into the country.
Pence: “The reality is, when you look at the Biden plan, it reads an awful lot like what President Trump and I and our task force have been doing every step of the way.”
- Reality check: The Biden plan calls for a much stronger federal response than the one the Trump administration has put forward.
Pence: “When you say what the American people have done over these last eight months hasn’t worked, that’s a great disservice to the sacrifices that the American people have made.”
- Reality check: The virus has brutalized vulnerable populations, including the elderly, the poor and people of color, who have been left largely unprotected by the federal government.
Pence, on the Rose Garden event that is suspected of becoming a super spreader event: “Many of the people who were at that event … actually were tested for coronavirus, and it was an outdoor event.”
- Reality check: Most attendees were maskless and weren’t maintaining distance between one another. And the number of infected attendees speaks for itself.
