Vice President Mike Pence was pressed on his previous remarks describing the panic surrounding the coronavirus outbreak as “overblown.”
During an appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” Pence and host John Berman engaged in an intense debate about the coronavirus outbreak and the White House’s pandemic response.
Pence was asked about his previous op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal on June 16 where he described the coronavirus panic as “overblown.”
Berman noted that since Pence’s op-ed was published, more than 53,000 Americans have died from coronavirus as he asked the vice president if his observation was wrong.
“My question to you, again, about where we are and where we will be stems from this: On June 16, you wrote, ‘We are winning the fight against the invisible enemy.’ And you said, ‘The panic is overblown.’ Since then, 53,000 more Americans have died. More than 3 million more Americans have been infected with coronavirus. So how was the concern overblown?”
“Well John what was… at that time, as you well remember we were seeing cases declining from the dramatic rise in cases and the loss of nearly 2,500 Americans per day, at the height of this pandemic,” Pence said.
He added, “And most of our scientists believed that we were well on our way toward lowering cases, and that perhaps the coronavirus like the flu would be seasonal and that we would a summer respite. But sometime around Memorial Day, things changed.”
See their remarks below:
Over 1,000 people died from coronavirus on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
— CNN This Morning with Kasie Hunt (@CNNThisMorning) August 21, 2020
Vice President Mike Pence on US death toll: “Never been a day gone by we haven’t thought about families who have lost loved ones in the midst of this pandemic.”https://t.co/n0sp3k6CNc pic.twitter.com/e1cJNIQmXo
Berman interjected to ask the vice president if he was wrong in his observation.
“So you were wrong — you were wrong on June 16th– were you wrong on June 16th when you said the panic was overblown?” Berman asked.
Avoiding the question, Pence fired back at Berman saying “Well, CNN was wrong a lot early in the year, John. We’ve all been learning all along the way about this coronavirus.”
Pence went on to commend President Donald Trump for his “remarkable” leadership and pandemic response.
Pence’s latest remarks come as schools across the nation attempt to reopen amid the pandemic. Although many school districts have opted to implement virtual learning or hybrid alternatives, there are still a substantial number of school districts and collegiate institutions that have opted for in-person classes.
Less than two weeks into the new school year, hundreds of faculty members and students have tested positive for coronavirus while thousands of others have been placed under quarantine in several states.
As of Friday morning, there are more than 5.7 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States as the death toll nears 180,000.