In the last several days it has been revealed that numerous members of Vice-President Pence’s office have tested positive for COVID-19. The media has been circling the waters around the VP, suggesting that he should take a break from campaigning as a result of this COVID diagnosis among his staff.
On Meet the Press, Chuck Todd took to asking Corey Lewandowski about this and his response to the seasoned campaign vet put it right back into Chuck Todd’s lap:
Todd: “Uh Alright, Let me stick with that first question there, and you’d started to answer, You said you don’t know the details of how many more staffers, Do you think it would be appropriate for him [Pence] to campaign in the next 24 hours or do you think he should quarantine? If you came into contact with Mark Short as closely he did, would you be quarantining?”
Lewandowski: ” Well look, I would make sure the Vice President is taking all of the precautions necessary as he always has done, I’m sure he is tested regularly and he is in the best care of the best physicians in the world at the White House, so I’m sure he’ll do what is necessary and what is appropriate. And look, we’ve also seen Kamala Harris’s team, members of her team come down with COVID and she took the necessary precautions so let’s see where this goes, but I have not spoken to the team directly about that Chuck.”
Watch:
WATCH: @chucktodd asks @C_Lewandowski if Vice President Pence should campaign so soon after his chief of staff tested positive for Covid-19. #MTP
Lewandowski: “We have also seen Kamala Harris’ team come down with Covid and she took the necessary precautions.” pic.twitter.com/VKyehgMA2p
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) October 25, 2020
About as perfect of a response as you could want. Lewandowski was quick to point out that the media didn’t ask any questions about Kamala’s schedule in the wake of her staffers testing positive for COVID-19. Why would Pence take a break from campaigning if Kamala continued to campaign under the same circumstances?
In fact, once the Harris staffer tested positive, Team Harris announced they would be canceling all of Harris’ travel, however, Doug Emhoff returned to the campaign trail less than 24 hours later. Vice President Pence and his wife both test frequently and have tested negative in the days before and since the announcement regarding their staff’s diagnosis. For Pence to continue on the campaign trail only follows the example set by Kamala’s camp in the days following their same situation.
As we enter the last few days of the campaign, the media will continue to question both Trump and Pence’s actions following diagnoses in their campaign as a means of attempting to slow the Trump campaign’s packed schedule over the next several days.
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