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Vice President Mike Pence ducked a question Thursday about how many coronavirus tests have been carried out after the nations top infectious disease doctor, Anthony Fauci, said the dearth of testing remains a failing of the nations battle against COVID-19.

Pence, whom Trump put in charge of the White House task force on the virus, was pressed on CNN about why the number of tests reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) has decreased since March 5even as cases rise amid urgent calls for more testing.

Pence speculated that the CDC was missing tests being carried out by states. Asked, then, what the total was, he responded: Well, I would leave that to the experts. (Check out the video above.) Testing is critical to isolate those with coronavirus symptoms, even mild ones, in particular to protect more vulnerable people who could die of COVID-19.

Pence conceded earlier on CBS that the Trump administration is still working to cut red tape holding up testing.We are going to continue to work in every way to clear out, as the president said, any red tape, any barriers to testing that might have existed at the Food and Drug Administration, he said on CBS This Morning.

Pence had vowed earlier this month that testing would be ramped up but admitted last week that it continued to be outstripped by demand.

The COVID-19 Tracking Project by The Atlanticand a data team, which combines most state tests, estimates 10,000 people have been tested in the U.S. South Korea has tested more than 230,000 people. (Two specimens per person are usually tested, according to The Atlantic, which is why test numbers are larger than the number of people tested.)

Dr. Matt McCarthy, an infectious disease expert and physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, early this month blasted the lack of available tests as a national scandal and complained that he had to plead for tests for sick people in the emergency room. The testing issue should have been addressed immediately in December as news of the coronavirus first emerged, McCarthy said, adding that the capacity for testing is increasing but that critical hurdles still remainto obtaining the tests.

Initial tests developed by the CDC were flawed and worked in only a handful of labs. In addition, they were initially available only for people returning from China or for those who had contact with an individual known to be ill with coronavirus.

President Donald Trump insisted at an appearance a week ago at the CDC that anyone that needs a test for coronavirus could get it. On Thursday, he said frankly, the testing has been very smooth.

Trump also claimed that everyone coming into the U.S. is tested. International travelers are observed for symptoms; their temperature may be taken with a non-contact thermometer, but theyre not tested for the virus.

Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday that the shortage of testing is a failing.

The system is not really geared to what we need right now, he said. The idea of anybody getting it easily the way people in other countries are doing it, were not set up for that. Do I think we should be? Yes.

Check out his testimony here:

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Mike Pence Won't Say How Many Coronavirus Tests Have Been Conducted - HuffPost

"The View" addressed who they think Vice President Joe Biden should pick if he ultimately becomes the official Democratic nominee. According to the co-hosts, it must be a woman.

But if Biden picks a woman, Meghan McCain thinks Trump will go tit-for-tat andfire Vice President Mike Pence.

"I still think, though, if he chooses a woman, Trump is going to kick Pence out and put in Nikki Haley," she said. "Because I think they're going to go toe-for-toe. Like you want to identity politics me, I'll identity politics you. I think they're gangster."

Co-host Joy Behar said that the president's luck is changing right now and given Pence's more-stable leadership on coronavirus, Trump might falter. Others think that Trump has named Pence as the head of the coronavirus task force because if it goes awry he can throw the vice president under the bus.

"I don't know if the party would like that, to take Pence out," said Behar.

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"I think they would. They need the win," McCain replied.

You can watch the segment below via Twitter:

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Meghan McCain predicts that President Trump will boot Mike Pence off the GOP ticket on "The View" - Salon

According to reports, Mike Pence has been meeting in secret with right wing media personalities to get their opinions on how the White House should spin the crisis. This is further proof that the White House does not care about the safety of the American people, they only care about their image and their chances of reelection. Ring of Fires Farron Cousins explains whats happening.

Transcript:

*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

According to a new report from the Daily Beast, Mike Pence has been meeting with right wing personalities, media hosts and influencers on social media to try to help massage the message a little bit about the Trump administrations response to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, heres the weird thing about this. This wasnt an afterthought. This wasnt, okay, well now its been a couple of weeks. We need to go out there and start meeting with these people. Get the word out. Mike Pence started meeting with these folks the day after Donald Trump appointed him to head up the coronavirus task force. The very first thing he did was go out there and reach out to right wing media folks and right wing social media folks and say, how can we spin this? How can we make us look better? Thats whats happening here. Now, according to the Daily Beast, this actually began even before that at CPAC.

There was a little meeting that they all attended where they talked about how to massage the message, how to kind of whitewash things, how to make things really look so much better than they are. And then again, once Pence was appointed, first thing he does, he goes out, he holds the meeting, a meeting the next day. Then the next day holds another meeting with these folks and essentially they exchange talking points, explained to the White House how they have a massive PR crisis on their hands and how they could fix it. Some of the folks who have attended these meetings, according to Daily Beast, Fox news fixture and prolific MAGA tweeter, Dan Bongino, former Trump advisor and current war room 2020 podcast host, Jason Miller, Newsmax TV host and Trumps former press secretary Sean Spicer, former White House official and Sinclair must run commentator Boris Epshteyn, Sinclair anchor and ex Fox news host Eric Bolling and former representative Jack Kingston from Georgia who is also a Trump surrogate.

They also met with multiple MAGA folks who have massive Twitter followings or massive YouTube followings trying to get them to go out there and spread the good word about how awesome the Trump administration is doing in handling this crisis. And folks, if you had any doubt that the Trump administration doesnt care about human beings, this should have gone ahead and confirmed that no, they dont care about human beings. All they care about is the PR, the public relations side of this. They dont want people to lose faith in Donald Trump. Even though people left and right are losing faith in Donald Trump. They dont trust him. They dont think hes doing a good job with this. They dont think he can do a good job with this and thats what the White House wants to fix. They dont want to necessarily stop the spread of the pandemic. That, that doesnt seem to be the big concern there.

Its just, wow, I dont want people to think Im a moron and thats what theyre concerned about. Thats what theyre actually out there working on. In fact, Mike Pences chief of staff, Marc Short, actually defended these meetings. So he admitted that they happened. This is not, you know, a conspiracy. Theres, these meetings are actually happening. But anyway, Short goes out there and tells the media outlets that, well, you know, were doing this because we just want to get the word out to as many people as possible, as fast as possible. You know, its not, its not white washing. Its not propaganda. Its just because like if we need them to tweet something out, theyre going to go out and do it. So that helps get information out to the public. Thats a lie. That is an absolute lie because let me tell you how a lot of these right wing media personalities operate on Twitter, and I know this from experience because if you ever say one thing critical about them, or even if youve never spoken to them at all or tweeted about them or mentioned them on Twitter, theyre going to block you.

I know that because Im blocked by Dan Bongino and I had never, before I was blocked, ever said a word about Dan Bongino on social media, in a video here, or even in my private life, had never uttered his name only to find out on a block. So how does that work if Dan Bongino is part of the rapid response team yet I cant see what he has to say? So Im just screwed because hes got a grudge against me for some reason? Same thing with all of these other little weasels out there on social media, but this isnt about spreading important messages about testing centers. This is about white washing the Trump administrations ridiculous response to this pandemic. Its about making people think that theyre not as inept as they actually are and luckily, since this has been going on since February, the public isnt buying it. They know that weve got two morons, Beavis and Butthead in Pence and Trump running this whole thing. Theyre not happy about it and they know its not working. So no amount of right-wing propaganda at this point, as they watch this virus spread, is going to convince them otherwise.

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Mike Pence Secretly Meeting With Right-Wing Media Personalities To Craft Pandemic Talking Points - The Ring of Fire Network - The Ring of Fire Network

img { width: 90px; margin: 0 1.5rem 0 0;}.inner_circle--block > div { flex: 1;}.inner_circle--block p { /*font-weight: 500; margin: 0 0 0.5rem 0;*/ color: #fff; line-height: 1.2em;}.inner_circle--block h3 { font-weight: 500; margin: 0 0 0.5rem 0; color: #fff;}.link-list__title > a:hover, .link-list__title--desktop > a:hover {}]]]]]]]]>]]]]]]>]]]]>]]> Mike Pence is an extremist who is amassing power and exerting influence with less scrutiny than any vice president in U.S. history. Read Our Report The Real Mike Pence Read Our Report Pence's Inner Circle Pence on the Issues Pence in the Press Jerome Adams

Relationship with Pence: Pence named Adams the Indiana State Health Commissioner

Administration Role: Surgeon General

Also Known For: Giving Pence credit where credit was not due

Relationship with Pence: Former pollster

Administration Role: Counselor to the President

Also Known For: Working with anti-LGBTQ extremists

Relationship with Pence: Longtime admirer

Administration Role: Pence's far-right-hand man

Also Known For: Anti-LGBTQ beliefs, voter suppression tactics

Relationship with Pence: Former finance director and campaign manager

Administration Role: Leading pro-Pence PAC

Also Known For: Preparing Pence for a 2020 run

Relationship with Pence: Former Chief of Staff

Administration Role: Leading legislative affairs at the White House

Also Known For: Running the Koch brothers' political machine

Relationship with Pence: Chief political strategist

Administration Role: Pence's Chief of Staff, co-founder of Great America Committee

Also Known For: Helping elect disgraced Missouri Governor Eric Greitens

Relationship with Pence: Health care advisor in Indiana

Administration Role: Running the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Also Known For: Selling senators on repealing Obamacare

Relationship with Pence: Longtime fan and partner in anti-LGBTQ hate

Administration Role: Anti-LGBTQ advisor

Also Known For: Radical anti-LGBTQ beliefs

Relationship with Pence: Pence named Adams the Indiana State Health Commissioner

Administration Role: Surgeon General

Also Known For: Giving Pence credit where credit was not due

Relationship with Pence: Former pollster

Administration Role: Counselor to the President

Also Known For: Working with anti-LGBTQ extremists

Relationship with Pence: Longtime admirer

Administration Role: Pence's far-right-hand man

Also Known For: Anti-LGBTQ beliefs, voter suppression tactics

Relationship with Pence: Former finance director and campaign manager

Administration Role: Leading pro-Pence PAC

Also Known For: Preparing Pence for a 2020 run

Relationship with Pence: Former Chief of Staff

Administration Role: Leading legislative affairs at the White House

Also Known For: Running the Koch brothers' political machine

Relationship with Pence: Chief political strategist

Administration Role: Pence's Chief of Staff, co-founder of Great America Committee

Also Known For: Helping elect disgraced Missouri Governor Eric Greitens

Relationship with Pence: Health care advisor in Indiana

Administration Role: Running the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Also Known For: Selling senators on repealing Obamacare

Relationship with Pence: Longtime fan and partner in anti-LGBTQ hate

Administration Role: Anti-LGBTQ advisor

Also Known For: Radical anti-LGBTQ beliefs

Select a topic to discover where Pence stands on the Issues

Led Trumps sham Advisory Commission on Election Integrity.

Wasted at least 250k of tax-payers' dollars to publicly oppose NFL players protesting police brutality and racial injustice.

Criticized Bush for signing the 1991 Civil Rights Act, calling it objectionable and a quota act.

Signed one of the nations most restrictive anti-abortion laws which was later blocked by a federal judge.

Led national fight to defund Planned Parenthood and forced the closure of many clinics in Indiana.

Cast the tie-breaking vote to strip protections for reproductive health care.

As a member of Congress, received an "A" grade and campaign endorsements from the NRA every year between 2002 and 2012.

As Governor, Pence signed several extreme gun laws supported by gun lobbyists.

Voted in favor of concealed carry reciprocity, forcing all states to accept concealed carry permits from states with weak gun laws and permit standards.

Directed state agencies to halt resettlement of Syrian refugees in Indiana.

Supported Texas lawsuit to halt President Obamas DAPA and expanded DACA programs.

Proposed self-deportation immigration bill in 2006.

Supports weakening unions through right to work laws.

Voted against Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (three times) and Paycheck Fairness Act.

Worked to cut and privatize social security and medicare.

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Meet the Real Mike Pence - hrc.org

A member of Vice President Mike Pences security detail crashed his motorcycle Saturday in Florida while escorting the VP to a meeting about the coronavirus.

The unnamed sheriffs deputy was conscious after the crash on I-95 and was taken to a nearby hospital, according to a tweet from Bloomberg Business reporter Ryan Beene, who described the scary moment.

Pence confirmed the crash,retweeting the reporter.

We are praying for the sheriffs deputy and his family. We are grateful to everyone in the Palm Beach Sheriffs Office for all they do to keep us safe, Pence added.

Pence is on his way to meet with Princess Cruise execs in Fort Lauderdale to discuss their Grand Princess cruiseliner stranded off the coast of San Francisco with 3,500 passengers and crew on board. The boat was ordered to stay at sea after 21 on board tested positive for COVID-19.

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Officer on motorcycle crashes while escorting Mike Pence to coronavirus meeting - New York Post