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WASHINGTON (AP) – Vice President Mike Pence has long portrayed the straight man before Donald Trump, translating the president’s fuss into more measured and calm language.
His job has become even more difficult. As coronavirus cases increase in much of the country despite months of confinement, Pence has spent the past week trying to convince the American public that things are going well, even if they are not.
“Make no mistake about it, what you see today is that the United States is going back to work and the American people are finding a way every day to take this coronavirus further in the past,” he told CNBC the same day as the country. reported more than 55,000 new virus cases, a daily record.
For public health experts, optimism has stayed away from reality.
“It’s almost ridiculous because it doesn’t pass any credibility test when we see spikes in cases, spikes in hospitalizations,” said Larry Gostin, who specializes in public health at Georgetown University School of Law. “The American people are not stupid. They can see spin when there is spin. “
The most important thing Pence can do, Gostin said, “is be honest with the American public. … They need to be told the truth and then told what the United States is going to do to change this. “
It is not the first time that Pence has been forced to put his own credibility on the line while serving as Trump’s most loyal soldier. It may be the most consistent.
While Trump has tried to distance himself from what he calls “the plague” while seeking reelection, Pence has emerged as the public face of this phase of the outbreak, frequently traveling to virus hotspots, coordinating with governors and leading the task. of administration coronavirus. force.
The role, according to those close to him, is a natural fit for Pence, a former Indiana governor who believes it is his job to defend the president and reopen the country as safely as possible. But allies are well aware that Pence’s political future will depend on whether Trump wins a second term.
If Trump loses, and Pence runs for president in 2024, he will likely face many candidates from a new generation of politicians. That could include Nikki Haley, a former United Nations ambassador and the governor of South Carolina, and Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas.
Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health, said Pence faces a “real dilemma” because Trump’s re-election depends heavily on an economic rebound based on the reopening of the states during the pandemic.
From a public health perspective, “We are actually losing again. It is getting worse. We will have to cut the economy, “he said.
After spending time on the road highlighting reopening efforts, Pence traveled to Arizona and Florida last week, states where cases are emerging. He tried to argue that the country is in a much better position now than at the beginning of the outbreak when testing capacity was appalling and doctors and nurses were desperate for basic protective equipment.
“The American people deserve to know that we are in a much better place today, thanks to the government-wide approach, the America-wide approach that President Trump initiated at the start of the coronavirus pandemic,” Pence said Tuesday during a briefing. of the working group not held at the White House but at the headquarters of the United States Public Health Service in Rockville, Maryland.
White House officials and allies emphasize that there are positive signs beyond the flow of supplies, with death toll and various therapies on the market. The point of the blockages, they emphasize, was to flatten the infection curve to avoid overwhelming hospitals, not to eliminate cases.
To further push that message, Pence is expected to resume campaign trips soon. Campaign officials met by phone Thursday to draw a map of the media markets where they believe it could be beneficial.
While Trump favors large-scale protests, Pence will continue to focus on more intimate settings, inducing restaurant visits, bus tours, and smaller speaking engagements, especially in the face of groups such as white evangelicals and suburban families who may be more receptive to a less hyperactive person. -political message.
Pence will focus on changing states by emphasizing local issues and trying to show voters how the administration has affected their lives for good. He is expected to spend a lot of time in states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, as well as Arizona and North Carolina, talking about recovering manufacturing jobs. It’s a promise Trump made in 2016 that has been largely broken.
At the same time, however, the Trump campaign recently dissolved a team of dedicated Pence employees, including its chief communications officer, spokesperson, and vice president of operations. Marty Obst, a former Pence adviser who served as campaign manager in 2016, and Marc Short, his chief of staff, now handle strategy and planning.
While some described the move as a natural transition since the vice president already has a full staff in the White House, others said he suggested a diminished role in a campaign that sees Pence more as a substitute than as a director.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Ali Pardo dismissed that suggestion, saying that Pence “has played an integral role in promoting and implementing President Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda across the country.”
Pence has made it clear that he feels this is the Trump campaign and has every right to run it however he wants.
Barry Bennett, a longtime Republican strategist who worked for Trump in 2016, praised Pence’s performance.
“He has a very hard job. But so far I think he has managed to do it with compassion and integrity, ”he said. “It is probably the only one that came out of the pandemic experience with positive results.”
