Mike Pence's appointment to lead US' Coronavirus response heavily criticised

United States President Donald Trump declared that it would be his Vice President Mike Pence who would lead the White House Coronavirus Taskforce. At the White House conference on February 27, Trump not only said that the US has the “greatest experts in the world” but chose Pence to decide how to contain the epidemic that originated in China. However, the man who had once claimed as mayor of Indiana, that “smoking doesn't kill”, has been highly criticised for heading country's response to the fatal virus which has infected at least 82,000 people in the world. 

US health specialists were reportedly outraged by Trump's appointment and called it 'endangering' which added to the criticism of US President's administration has been facing for handling the outbreak in a “chaotic” manner. According to international reports, Pence had made several ill-informed decisions regarding public health throughout his political career and therefore, one epidemiology professor compared the latest appointment to “putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department”. 

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'Not up to the task'

An assistant professor at Yale University, Gregg Gonsalves posted about how Trump's decision has “endangered” people by putting “someone not up to the task” for a “crucial position”. As the governor of Indiana, it was Pence who oversaw reportedly one of the worst HIV outbreaks in the state's history in 2015.

The current US Vice President also faced harsh criticism for being inadequate and ill-informed. There was a lack of public health staffing as Pence had removed public health funding after taking over the office. 

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Meanwhile, Trump has lauded his administration along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for doing a “great job” in handling the crisis. The US President also took a dig on the Democrats who were critical about the early closing of US borders and said that it was, “too soon”. Moreover, while the death toll of the COVID-19 in China has reached 2,715, Trump bragged about the USA not having even “one death”.  

According to Trump, no matter what the Republicans do, Democrats will criticise them for “doing badly”. On the other hand, if the Coronavirus disappeared, the US President said that Democrats would call out Trump administration for being “incompetent”.

However, he then added, "it is what it is".  As of February 27, the CDC has confirmed 60 positive cases of coronavirus including the ones who have been repatriated to the US.  

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(With Agency Inputs)