MAY 8, 2:45 PM

Vice President Pence Criticized For Showing Up To Alexandria Nursing Home Without A Mask

Victoria Chamberlin



Vice President Mike Pence unloads boxes of PPE from FEMA at Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, May 7, 2020.

Susan Walsh / AP Photo

Vice President Mike Pence has been the butt of endless Twitter jabs and some scathing late-night show commentary after he showed up to an Alexandria nursing home on Thursday for a photo-op without a mask.

Pence was delivering boxes of personal protective equipment to the Woodbine Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center, one of many deliveries the Federal Emergency Management Agency will send out to nursing homes across the country. Pence was not social distancing from his companions on the trip, and no one in the group was wearing a mask.

The photo-op took place on the same day that a personal valet of President Donald Trump tested positive for the coronavirus. On Friday, news broke that Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, is positive for COVID-19.

This is the second time in about a week that the vice president has taken heat for not wearing a mask during a public outing. In a visit to the Mayo Clinic last week, Pence flouted hospital rules by choosing not to wear a mask, which he later said was a “mistake.”

The Virginia Democrats put their criticism of the nursing home visit succinctly:

So Mike Pence shows up to a Virginia nursing home
1. without a mask
2. while not social distancing
3. after a Trump valet tests positive for coronavirus
4. for an unnecesssary photo-up.

Link to tweet

{snip}

As Pence and nursing home staff wheeled the last boxes to the door, a few empty boxes were left in the van and the vice president joked, “Should I carry the empty ones just for the camera?”

{snip}

This post has been updated with news about Pence’s press secretary testing positive for COV ID-19.