VP Mike Pence To Campaign In Hibbing Despite COVID-19 Outbreak In His Office

From the Minnesota Reformer:

By Ricardo Lopez

October 26, 2020

Vice President Mike Pence is returning to northern Minnesota to campaign for President Donald Trump, headlining a rally in Hibbing even as top staffers in his office recently contracted COVID-19.

On Sunday, National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien defended Pence’s decision to maintain his travel schedule, saying his stumping for Trump is no different than the role of essential workers in a pandemic, a comparison that drew criticism from health experts.

“Essential workers going out and campaigning and voting are about as essential as things we can do as Americans,” O’Brien told the New York Times.

In contrast, Democratic vice presidential candidate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, suspended her campaign travel after two campaign aides were diagnosed with the virus.

Trump, whose administration has faced fierce criticism for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, expressed irritation with coverage of the virus, which has now claimed 225,000 lives.

On Monday morning, he tweeted: “The Fake News Media is riding COVID, COVID, COVID, all the way to the Election. Losers!”

Over the weekend, his administration also signaled a new strategy to let the virus take its course, mitigating it with treatments and vaccines but making no attempt to controls its spread:

“We’re not going to control the pandemic,” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations,” he said.

Pence, who again tested negative on Monday, is expected to speak at 1 p.m. at the Range Regional Airport, with doors opening at 11 a.m.

Five Pence aides, including his chief of staff, were confirmed to have COVID-19.

Eight days remain until Election Day, and the Trump campaign is barnstorming critical battleground states, including Minnesota, which Trump has made a top target this election cycle.

On Monday alone, Trump is headlining three rallies in Pennsylvania, while other Trump surrogates, including Pence, sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr, and Second Lady Karen Pence fan out across Arizona, North Carolina and Ohio.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..