Pence says in his 'heart' he knows administration 'saved hundreds of thousands' of lives

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

published 23 September 2020

On Tuesday, as the U.S. coronavirus death toll hit 200,000, Vice President Mike Pence reflected on the last several months, and told supporters in New Hampshire he knows "in my heart that we have saved hundreds of thousands of American lives."

He called the death toll "a heartbreaking milestone," but promised that before the end of the year, there will be "a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine." He declared that President Trump "put the health of America first" and the administration is "protecting the vulnerable, we're saving lives, and developing lifesaving medicines."

The United States has about 4 percent of the world's population, but has recorded 20 percent of its COVID-19 deaths. In May, Trump predicted during a Fox News interview that over the course of the pandemic, "anywhere from 75,000, 80,000 to 100,000 people" would die from the virus. Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, later clarified that her task force's projections showed "between 100,000 and 240,000 American lives lost, and that's with full mitigation and us learning from each other of how to social distance."

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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.

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