Pence returns to AZ as virus rises
Vice president to meet with Ducey in Phoenix
Vice President Mike Pence returns to Arizona today to meet with Gov. Doug Ducey amid a surge of COVID-19 cases that are taxing the state’s hospitals and health care workers and prompted the governor to again shut down gyms, bars, movie theaters, water parks and other establishments in an effort to curb the virus.
Pence’s return to Arizona brings a different tone than the campaign rally President Donald Trump, accompanied by Ducey, held last week in Phoenix with thousands of young conservatives.
Pence’s trip, which no longer includes a large campaign event, will serve to demonstrate the Trump administration’s sense of concern and support to Arizona amid a dramatic rise in cases and hospitalizations that followed Ducey’s earlier decision to reopen the state without aggressive mitigation measures.
The trip comes as Trump is sliding in the polls nationally and in Arizona, a state critical to Republicans’ hopes of
keeping the White House and one that is a centerpiece in their fight to maintain their majority in the U.S. Senate.
Pence, who leads the White House Coronavirus Task Force, will be joined by Dr. Deborah Birx and Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
Jessica Taylor, the Senate editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said Pence can offer a more serious tone and can stay on message in a way that Trump often cannot. With COVID-19 cases spiking, portions of the state closing and the election calendar drawing near, public confidence is critical to Republicans’ prospects in Arizona.
“They’re just trying to keep states in their column,” she said. “Arizona is a state that is increasingly at risk, especially when you look not just at the changing demographics of the state, but with this spike of infections, it is in real danger, I think, of going not only to Joe Biden but perhaps to (Democratic challenger) Mark Kelly in the Senate, as well.”
Air Force Two is scheduled to land at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at 11:30 a.m. An hour later, Pence is expected to speak with reporters about on-the-ground efforts to combat the spread of the virus.
In recent days, Pence and Ducey have donned masks in an effort to promote them as a way to slow the spread of the virus.
“Wearing a mask is just a good idea,” Pence said Sunday during a similar visit with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state health officials. “And it will, we know, from experience, will slow the spread of the coronavirus.”
The number of infections in Arizona exceeded 79,000 on Tuesday. The state reported 1,632 deaths due to COVID-19.
The mounting numbers prompted Ducey to announce Monday the temporary closure of water parks and tubing, bars, gyms and movie theaters, places where gatherings of residents are almost certainly contributing to the surge in community spread.
Biden, Trump’s Democratic rival, has ramped up his criticism of Trump’s handling of the national crisis ahead of Pence’s trip.
Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s deputy campaign manager and communications director, said in a written statement to The Arizona Republic that the state’s situation worsened in part because the administration “has failed to listen to the experts and put forth a cohesive, national strategy to get COVID-19 under control.”
Despite Ducey’s request for the federal government to reopen the Affordable Care Act enrollment during the pandemic to help families get health insurance, the Trump administration is continuing to attack the health care law in the Supreme Court.
“Americans made the sacrifice of shutting this country down for several weeks to give the government time to put a plan in place to reopen safely,” Bedingfield said. “The President didn’t do that, and everyone is now paying the price for his refusal to lead in a crisis.”