Vice President Mike Pence walked the halls of the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday to survey some of the innovative work the hospital is doing to respond to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. He later led a roundtable discussion with a group of employees, thanking them profusely for their efforts. The hospital has administered thousands of tests so far.
Pence told the team that it was "inspiring to walk the hallways," as he praised their "innovation and profound care" for their patients.
"You're healers," Pence gratefully told the dedicated doctors and nurses. "Thank you for being a part of the healing of this nation."
The feeling was mutual, as the health care workers thanked Pence for both his visit and his leadership.
Pence also told Democratic Gov. Tim Walz that he and Trump were grateful for his cooperation and that they're "going to continue to fully partner" with him.
The Joe Biden campaign had to go and ruin the camaraderie.
"While Vice President Pence tours the country attempting to paper over the Trump Administration's delayed, insufficient response to this pandemic by passing the buck to governors and posing for photos at the finish line, Vice President Biden stands firmly with Minnesotans - and Americans across the country - in listening to public health experts and following the science so we can keep Americans safe and get our economy back on track," said Biden for President Deputy Campaign Manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfeld. "That's the kind of leadership our families deserve."
The Trump campaign and other Republican leaders couldn't believe what they were reading. Why ruin a beautiful show of bipartisanship with a political nastygram?
This lame statement is proof that @JoeBiden cares not for uniting the country. He just attacks @realDonaldTrump for any reason.@Mike_Pence visits MN to tout Mayo Clinic partnership with state for virus testing “moonshot.”
— Tim Murtaugh - Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TimMurtaugh) April 28, 2020
All Biden can do is carp helplessly from the sidelines. pic.twitter.com/UC6w5dcrsw
What a bizarre statement for campaign letterhead -- they don't even say anything new or notable.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 28, 2020
It's a bad look for Biden on an already bad optics day. While he struggled to lead a virtual town hall with Hillary Clinton on Tuesday, President Trump was hosting a group of small business leaders who had been helped by the Payment Protection Program his administration helped spearhead.
But highlighting Trump's presser and Pence's trip to the Mayo Clinic may all be for naught, because it doesn't take a soothsayer to predict that the media will be more interested in reporting how the VP didn't wear a mask today. As Newsbusters noted, Pence has been tested for COVID-19 multiple times.
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