Vice President Mike Pence won't just be behind the scenes — he'll be the star of the show.
After President Trump announced on Wednesday night that Pence will lead the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak, The New York Times reported Thursday Pence would also run the government's messaging on the issue.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There are 81,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with 60 in the United States. Nearly 3,000 people have died from the virus. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was the initial lead in the coronavirus response, and will remain the chair of the government's task force, but the administration reportedly wants to show the very top of the executive branch is taking the matter seriously. Pence will become the face of the response so that all lawmakers and health officials have one person to turn to, the Times reports. As The Washington Post reports, selecting Pence as the coronavirus "czar" was bound to garner criticism, seeing as Pence was governor of Indiana during the state's worst-ever HIV outbreak. Critics said Pence's handling of the crisis and policies cutting public health spending worsened the outbreak.
Read more at The New York Times.
-
‘Consistency at the ballot box isn’t nearly as meaningful to many voters here’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
8 musicals to see this winter, all across the United Statesthe week recommends New shows and reconsidered productions are on the move
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
