- Donald Trump appointed Mike Pence to lead the fight against coronavirus in the United States.
- Pence went on to display appalling personal hygiene at the press conference on coronavirus preparedness.
- The three-second video shows why Trump’s decision to appoint Pence has been widely criticized.
Donald Trump has made a lot of questionable decisions since becoming president, but his choice of Vice President Mike Pence as “coronavirus czar” is shaping up to be one of his worst.
There are plenty of reasons Pence is the wrong man for the job, and they all converge in this three-second clip from Wednesday’s press conference (via Twitter):
Yes, that’s Mike Pence, wiping his nose with his hand moments before shaking hands – and sharing his germs – with everyone standing near him.
What’s more, he did it during a press conference regarding coronavirus preparedness.
Mr. Pence, Your Ineptitude Is Showing
The clip underscores the vice president’s ineptitude when it comes to public health crises. Back in 2015, he opposed a needle exchange while governor of Indiana. That decision set the stage for the state’s largest-ever HIV outbreak.
Fifteen years earlier, Pence authored an op-ed claiming that “smoking doesn’t kill.” Writing on his personal webpage, he torched the media for allegedly manufacturing hysteria and exaggerating the impact that smoking has on overall health.
Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill. In fact, 2 out of every three smokers does not die from a smoking related illness and 9 out of ten smokers do not contract lung cancer.
Why Trump Picked Pence as His Coronavirus Champion
So, Mike Pence certainly has a “talent” – but it’s not for protecting public health.
Spinning numbers? Perhaps.
Downplaying dangerous health issues? Absolutely.
But the fact that he wiped his own nose with his hand and then shook his peers’ hands on national TV while discussing how to prevent a flu-like illness proves he hasn’t got a clue when it comes to halting the spread of coronavirus.
That leaves us with only two potential theories for why Donald Trump picked him as coronavirus czar.
The first is to give himself an out. If the coronavirus spirals out of control in the U.S., Pence makes for a great fall guy.
The second is to draw on Mike Pence’s special talent for spinning the truth. After all, if he had the audacity to claim that smoking doesn’t kill in 2000, he should have no trouble disputing the warnings from the WHO, CDC, and doctors around the world.
Mike Pence’s nose-wipe is the perfect euphemism for Donald Trump’s coronavirus response. It’s careless, irresponsible, and unbelievably selfish.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
This article was edited by Josiah Wilmoth.
