SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Vice President Mike Pence speaking at a press conference about the coronavirus on February 26, 2020. (Photo: Michael Brochstein/Echoes Wire/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Ocasio-Cortez Says Putting Pence in Charge of Coronavirus Effort 'Irresponsible' Because He 'Literally Does Not Believe in Science'
"This decision could cost people their lives. Pence's past decisions already have."
Feb 26, 2020
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez late Wednesday condemned President Donald Trump's decision to put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the administration's coronavirus response as an "utterly irresponsible" move that could have deadly consequences.
"It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint."
--Gregg Gonsalves, Yale
"Mike Pence literally does not believe in science," tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat. "It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of U.S. coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic. This decision could cost people their lives. Pence's past decisions already have."
Ocasio-Cortez pointed to Pence's tenure as Indiana governor, where he she said his "science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana's history."
"He is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health."
\u201cMike Pence literally does not believe in science.\n\nIt is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic.\n\nThis decision could cost people their lives. Pence\u2019s past decisions already have.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1582766829
\u201cAs governor, Pence\u2019s science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana\u2019s history.\n\nHe is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert. He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health.\n \nhttps://t.co/1jVY44p2HF\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1582766829
The Verge reported following Trump's announcement Wednesday that as governor of Indiana, Pence "slashed public health spending and delayed the introduction of needle exchanges, which led to the state's worst outbreak of HIV."
Gregg Gonsalves--a Yale epidemiologist who co-authored a 2018 paper connecting Pence's policy decisions as governor to the 2014 HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana--denounced the president's decision to allow Pence to coordinate the administration's coronavirus response.
"Over 200 people were infected with HIV in an outbreak, met with ignorance, bumbling, incompetence, and ideological intransigence. Two hundred needlessly infected, now on medication for life at great costs to themselves and the state," Gonsalves tweeted Thursday morning. "Now Donald Trump has put Mike Pence in charge of coronavirus."
"It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint," Gonsalves added. "Donald Trump made the choice of putting someone absolutely not up to the task to this crucial position. It endangers us all. This isn't a Republican or Democratic issue--we have the potential for coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and we needed to rise above the partisan fray."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez late Wednesday condemned President Donald Trump's decision to put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the administration's coronavirus response as an "utterly irresponsible" move that could have deadly consequences.
"It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint."
--Gregg Gonsalves, Yale
"Mike Pence literally does not believe in science," tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat. "It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of U.S. coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic. This decision could cost people their lives. Pence's past decisions already have."
Ocasio-Cortez pointed to Pence's tenure as Indiana governor, where he she said his "science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana's history."
"He is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health."
\u201cMike Pence literally does not believe in science.\n\nIt is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic.\n\nThis decision could cost people their lives. Pence\u2019s past decisions already have.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1582766829
\u201cAs governor, Pence\u2019s science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana\u2019s history.\n\nHe is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert. He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health.\n \nhttps://t.co/1jVY44p2HF\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1582766829
The Verge reported following Trump's announcement Wednesday that as governor of Indiana, Pence "slashed public health spending and delayed the introduction of needle exchanges, which led to the state's worst outbreak of HIV."
Gregg Gonsalves--a Yale epidemiologist who co-authored a 2018 paper connecting Pence's policy decisions as governor to the 2014 HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana--denounced the president's decision to allow Pence to coordinate the administration's coronavirus response.
"Over 200 people were infected with HIV in an outbreak, met with ignorance, bumbling, incompetence, and ideological intransigence. Two hundred needlessly infected, now on medication for life at great costs to themselves and the state," Gonsalves tweeted Thursday morning. "Now Donald Trump has put Mike Pence in charge of coronavirus."
"It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint," Gonsalves added. "Donald Trump made the choice of putting someone absolutely not up to the task to this crucial position. It endangers us all. This isn't a Republican or Democratic issue--we have the potential for coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and we needed to rise above the partisan fray."
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez late Wednesday condemned President Donald Trump's decision to put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the administration's coronavirus response as an "utterly irresponsible" move that could have deadly consequences.
"It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint."
--Gregg Gonsalves, Yale
"Mike Pence literally does not believe in science," tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat. "It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of U.S. coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic. This decision could cost people their lives. Pence's past decisions already have."
Ocasio-Cortez pointed to Pence's tenure as Indiana governor, where he she said his "science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana's history."
"He is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert," Ocasio-Cortez wrote. "He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health."
\u201cMike Pence literally does not believe in science.\n\nIt is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic.\n\nThis decision could cost people their lives. Pence\u2019s past decisions already have.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1582766829
\u201cAs governor, Pence\u2019s science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana\u2019s history.\n\nHe is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert. He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health.\n \nhttps://t.co/1jVY44p2HF\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1582766829
The Verge reported following Trump's announcement Wednesday that as governor of Indiana, Pence "slashed public health spending and delayed the introduction of needle exchanges, which led to the state's worst outbreak of HIV."
Gregg Gonsalves--a Yale epidemiologist who co-authored a 2018 paper connecting Pence's policy decisions as governor to the 2014 HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana--denounced the president's decision to allow Pence to coordinate the administration's coronavirus response.
"Over 200 people were infected with HIV in an outbreak, met with ignorance, bumbling, incompetence, and ideological intransigence. Two hundred needlessly infected, now on medication for life at great costs to themselves and the state," Gonsalves tweeted Thursday morning. "Now Donald Trump has put Mike Pence in charge of coronavirus."
"It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint," Gonsalves added. "Donald Trump made the choice of putting someone absolutely not up to the task to this crucial position. It endangers us all. This isn't a Republican or Democratic issue--we have the potential for coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and we needed to rise above the partisan fray."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.