Pence asks governors to echo Trump's claim about surge in coronavirus infections

(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

published 16 June 2020

During a phone call with governors on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence urged them to repeat President Trump's claim that the surge in coronavirus outbreaks is only due to increased testing, The New York Times reports.

In audio of the call obtained by the Times, Pence is heard saying that when discussing the new outbreaks, the governors need to "continue to explain to your citizens the magnitude of the increase in testing" and "encourage people with the news that we're safely reopening the country."

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State health officials across the United States have said community spread is behind the outbreaks, but Pence downplayed this, instead focusing on outbreak locations like nursing homes, the Times reports.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.