Pence dons mask in visit to GM facility
WASHINGTON — This time, he wore a mask.
Vice President Mike Pence donned a face covering Thursday as he toured a General Motors/ Ventec ventilator production facility in Indiana after coming under fire for failing to wear one earlier this week in violation of Mayo Clinic policy.
The facility in Kokomo had been closed because of the coronavirus but was brought back online in mid-April to produce critical care ventilators for hospitals around the country. General Motors requires workers to wear masks in the plant’s production area, according to spokesman Jim Cain.
Pence removed the mask, however, for a roundtable discussion with top officials, including GM CEO Mary Barra and Ventec CEO Chris Kiple. None of the participants wore face coverings.
Pence’s visit to the factory came hours after his wife, Karen Pence, defended her husband’s decision to not wear a mask during a visit Tuesday to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Karen Pence told Fox News Channel that he had been unaware of the hospital’s coronavirus policy during the visit and that the vice president has been following the advice of medical experts. Pence, like other senior White House staff, is tested for the virus at least once a week.
“As our medical experts have told us, wearing a mask prevents you from spreading the disease.
And knowing that he doesn’t have COVID-19, he didn’t wear one,” Karen Pence said, adding that it “was actually after he left Mayo Clinic that he found out that they had a policy of asking everyone to wear a mask.”
The Mayo Clinic had earlier tweeted — then deleted — that it had informed the vice president of its “masking policy prior to his arrival.”
“Mayo shared the masking policy with the VP’s office,” the health care system later said.
Pence explained his decision not to wear a face mask at the Mayo Clinic by stressing that he has been frequently tested for the virus.
“Since I don’t have the coronavirus, I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel, and look them in the eye and say ‘thank you,’ ” Pence said.