When Pence had a chance to lead, he instead chose to mislead Americans

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020 | 2 a.m.

On June 16, the Wall Street Journal published a guest column from Vice President Mike Pence headlined “There isn’t a coronavirus ‘second wave.’ ”

Four months later, with the nation suffering not just its second wave but its third, Pence’s column stands as a testament to the Trump administration’s catastrophic response to the pandemic.

Pence, the head of the White House’s coronavirus response team, used his commentary to accuse the media of fear-mongering about COVID-19 and to claim that the administration was beating back the contagion.

We think his remarks are worth revisiting, as an enduring reminder of an administration that has constantly misled Americans about the pandemic and placed them in grave danger throughout the crisis. Today, the Sun offers excerpts of Pence’s column, and updates it with our own notes and remarks.

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Pence: In recent days, the media has taken to sounding the alarm bells over a “second wave” of coronavirus infections. Such panic is overblown. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and the courage and compassion of the American people, our public health system is far stronger than it was four months ago, and we are winning the fight against the invisible enemy.

The Sun: At the time of Pence’s writing, the only disagreement among experts about a second wave was whether the nation had even tamped down the first wave. Regardless, a second wave did emerge practically as the column appeared, and grew quickly to a record rate of 20.5 infections per 100,000 Americans on July 19.

That rate dwindled over the next several weeks before picking up again in September and surging yet higher to 23 infections per 100,000 last week. On Monday, the U.S. reported more than 74,300 new cases, which pushed the daily average over the past week above 71,000 — the most of any seven-day period during the pandemic.

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Pence: Cases have stabilized over the past two weeks, with the daily average case rate across the U.S. dropping to 20,000 — down from 30,000 in April and 25,000 in May. And in the past five days, deaths are down to fewer than 750 a day, a dramatic decline from 2,500 a day a few weeks ago — and a far cry from the 5,000 a day that some were predicting.

The Sun: By Aug. 5, deaths per day had gone back up to 1,345. This month, the daily death count has been as high as 1,129. Also this month, new daily positive tests shot up to a record high of more than 83,000.

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Pence: The truth is that we’ve made great progress over the past four months, and it’s a testament to the leadership of President Trump. … He rallied the American people to embrace social-distancing guidelines. And the progress we’ve made is remarkable.

The Sun: In reality, neither Trump nor Pence ever embraced the advice of public health experts. For instance, within days of writing his column, Pence made this incredible statement during an appearance in Louisiana: “We don’t want CDC guidance to be a reason why people don’t reopen their schools.”

Now, the administration has abandoned virtually all pretense of trying to halt the spread of the disease. Trump has been addressing shoulder-to-shoulder, largely unmasked crowds at campaign rallies. Pence has continued in-person campaigning even though five of his staff members recently tested positive for COVID-19. The administration appears to have the adopted herd immunity strategy, which is to protect especially vulnerable populations but allow the pandemic to run its course among everyone else. (Although it’s well worth noting that Trump held a superspreader rally in The Villages — a retirement community in Florida — that was packed with elderly individuals highly at risk of contracting the virus.) On Sunday, White House chief of staff Mark Meadows all but acknowledged the administration had stopped trying to contain the virus by saying during a televised interview that “We are not going to control this pandemic” because it is a “contagious virus.”

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Pence: Under Operation Warp Speed, the federal government is already funding research into multiple vaccine candidates, and we are well on our way to having a viable vaccine by the fall.

The Sun: It’s fall, and there’s no vaccine. Dr. Anthony Fauci told a TV interviewer this week that while a vaccine could be available by the end of the year, it would take “several months into 2021” for it to be widely available. Meanwhile, state officials in Nevada reported Monday that there was still no timetable for when a vaccine may become available. When it comes on line, officials expect initial supplies will be extremely limited.

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Pence: The media has tried to scare the American people every step of the way, and these grim predictions of a second wave are no different. The truth is, whatever the media says, our whole-of-America approach has been a success. We’ve slowed the spread, we’ve cared for the most vulnerable, we’ve saved lives, and we’ve created a solid foundation for whatever challenges we may face in the future. That’s a cause for celebration, not the media’s fear mongering.

The Sun: At the time of Pence’s column, about 125,000 Americans had died of COVID-19 and there had been 2.5 million confirmed cases in the U.S. Today, the death toll has ballooned to 231,000 and nearly 9 million Americans have been infected. Health experts are worried that even more spread is coming barring further closures. States have relaxed pandemic guidelines, and there’s ample evidence that Americans who are fatigued with being isolated are letting down their defenses despite the current surge in infections. Meanwhile, the onset of cold weather is pushing people indoors, which raises the risk of transmission. More than 20 states, including Nevada, are reporting case numbers at or near record levels.

Throughout the pandemic, Trump and Pence have undermined the advice of experts, politicized the wearing of masks, vilified the media for fact-based reporting, and denounced science-based projections in favor of magical thinking despite fully knowing the real danger (It will disappear “like a miracle,” will go away “with the heat,” “We’re rounding the corner,” etc.).

Pence, as the leader of the White House’s pandemic response team, had a chance to take a responsible approach and at least attempt to temper Trump’s recklessness. Instead, he fed the madness that has led to the U.S. having the world’s highest number of deaths and cases.

It’s clear that Pence’s words, rather than giving us hope that this pandemic will end and life will continue as it was, were wishful thinking at best and made to give us false hope. Now, we all know Pence and Trump will not protect our lives but will assuredly be the death of far too many Americans.