‘Irresponsible’ Pence Ripped for Not Wearing Mask—‘Duplicitous,’ Dangerous’

Critics ripped Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday after he refused to wear a mask in a visit to the Mayo Clinic, accusing Pence of being a fake tough guy who unnecessarily put people in danger while setting a terrible example because the vice president lives in fear of doing anything that could anger President Donald Trump.

Pence’s critics piled on even more after Pence, who heads the coronavirus task force, later said he did not wear a mask because he was being regularly tested for the coronavirus and wanted to look people in the eye.

In a recent New Yorker feature examining the different coronavirus outcomes in Seattle and New York, Dr. Richard Besser–the former acting director of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention who also trained with the Epidemic Intelligence Service–stressed the importance of not having mixed messages coming from the top during a pandemic.

“To maintain trust, you have to be as honest as possible, and make damn sure that everyone walks the walk,” Besser told the outlet. “If we order people to wear masks, then every C.D.C. official must wear a mask in public. If we order hand washing, then we let the cameras see us washing our hands. We’re trying to do something nearly impossible, which is get people to take an outbreak seriously when, for most Americans, they don’t know anyone who’s sick and, if the plan works, they’ll never meet anyone who’s sick.”