States including Florida and Texas have seen a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, and Vice President Mike Pence believes he knows why that is.
Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Pence noted nearly half of those testing positive are Americans under the age of 35.
He argued as states are beginning to reopen, younger Americans are congregating and disregarding federal guidance.
“Younger Americans have been congregating in ways that may have disregarded the guidance that we gave on the federal level for all the phases of reopening,” Pence said.
He added, “I think that’s why you see several governors taking action to essentially try and prevent further increases in those new cases.”
Watch his comments below:
As states like Texas and Florida see #COVID spikes, @VP says it's due to young people ignoring #socialdistancing guidance:
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 28, 2020
"Younger Americans have been congregating in ways that may have disregarded the guidance that we gave on the federal level for all the phases of reopening" pic.twitter.com/zDuhTeKJPT
According to Pence, another reason why some states are seeing a spike in the number of coronavirus cases is because of increased testing.
After five states hit record daily highs for the number of coronavirus cases on Saturday, Pence canceled campaign events in Florida and Arizona scheduled for next week, as IJR previously reported.
The White House also announced on Friday President Donald Trump’s trip to New Jersey had been canceled.
The number of coronavirus cases rose to more than 2.5 million on Saturday.
Pence previously defended holding campaign events during a coronavirus task force briefing on Friday citing freedom of speech and the right to assemble, as IJR previously reported.
During the briefing, he signaled the United States is “in a much better place” as 34 states showed a measure of stabilizing numbers of new cases.
During the “Oversight of the Trump Administration’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic” hearing on Tuesday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is concerned about the “disturbing” surge of coronavirus infections.
Fauci predicted the next few weeks are going to be crucial in slowing the spread.
As of Sunday afternoon, there are more than 2.5 million coronavirus cases in the United States and more than 125,000 deaths.