Pence’s Poor Predictions
August 6, 2020
Americans are only too aware of how inaccurate Trump’s predictions about the coronavirus have been — from claiming it was “totally under control” to saying it “miraculously goes away.” It’s clearer than ever that his deputy has an equally atrocious record of making predictions.
Pence pushed for a meatpacking plant in Colorado to remain open, promising to provide testing resources for employees. That promise was not kept, and now that facility has 300 infected workers.
Washington Post: “When local health officials moved to close one of the country’s biggest meatpacking plants amid a major coronavirus outbreak in April, Vice President Pence and one of the nation’s leading health officials pushed to keep the plant operating, against the advice of top local and state health officials, according to records and interviews.”
The Denver Channel: “The Vice President, speaking at a White House briefing, acknowledged the JBS outbreak and promised to help. ‘Our team is working with the governor to ensure that we flow testing resources,’ Pence said … Now less than a week from the scheduled reopening of the plant, promises from the White House and JBS management have not been kept.”
Washington Post: “Since then, three plant workers have died of covid-19, bringing the total number of employee deaths from the virus to six, according to state health officials. All told, about 300 employees have tested positive, making the plant the site of Colorado’s third-largest outbreak.”
Pence visited a school in North Carolina and touted it as at the “forefront” of school reopenings. Now, a campus in the same school network had to quarantine all fourth grade students and teachers.
News & Observer: “Vice President Mike Pence and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos visited an Apex private school on Wednesday that Pence said was ‘in the forefront of reopening schools in America.’”
ABC News: “Fourth graders at a school in North Carolina have been asked to quarantine for 14 days after a student there tested positive for COVID-19 … Thales Academy, a network of private non-sectarian community schools with eight locations in North Carolina, made the news last week after Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos visited a classroom and applauded the school for reopening.”
Pence repeatedly overpromised and underdelivered on the amount of PPE the Trump administration was providing to front line workers.
ABC News: “Pence on Thursday said there has been a vast increase in the supply of medical face masks, despite complaints that health care providers currently lack enough necessary protective equipment to treat a surge of novel coronavirus patients.”
Wall Street Journal: “Pence has overstated the amount of coronavirus-related medical equipment distributed by a Trump administration program on multiple occasions, according to public data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
Pence promised supplies for nursing homes, but some shipments included poorly-made, unusable PPE.
ABC News: “Mike Pence promised gear for nursing homes, but some of what arrived was subpar, organizations say”
ABC News: “Federal shipments of protective gear touted by Vice President Mike Pence as part of an effort to provide vital support to the nation’s nursing homes beleaguered by COVID-19 have at times included flimsy cloth masks and ‘trash bag’-like gowns that fail to meet even basic infection control standards … even as Pence posed for camera crews unloading boxes of the supplies.”
NBC News: “Nursing home executive to Pence: Enough photo ops”
Pence said the economy was roaring back, but we’ve just had our 20th straight week with more than 1 million unemployment claims.
Associated Press: “Pence says US economy bouncing back despite troubling signs”
ABC News: “’Nothing compares’: Unemployment filings top 1 million for 20th straight week”