Pence finally admits he should have worn mask after making excuses for days

Vice President Mike Pence finally admitted he made a mistake when he ignored hospital policy on an April 28 trip to Minnesota.

“I didn’t think it was necessary, but I should have worn the mask at the Mayo Clinic,” Pence said during a Sunday night interview with Fox News.

The admission of a mistake came nearly a week after Pence ignored a Mayo Clinic policy requiring all visitors to wear a face mask in order to protect health care workers and patients at the hospital.

After Pence’s trip to the Mayo Clinic, Pence and his wife, Karen, spent days making excuses for why he was not obligated to follow the same rules as everyone else.

Pence initially claimed he didn’t follow the policy so he would “be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you, ” though face masks do not cover the eyes.

On Wednesday morning, Karen Pence claimed her husband didn’t know he had to wear a mask.

“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 second lady told Fox News.

However, a member of the press traveling with Pence to the Mayo Clinic reported that the vice president’s office told them about the face mask policy and advised that they be prepared to follow it.

Further, the Mayo Clinic tweeted, “Mayo Clinic had informed @VP [Pence] of the masking policy prior to his arrival today,” and then deleted the tweet.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises using cloth face masks to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

Pence’s decision to ignore hospital policy “highlights a lack of understanding or respect of even the most basic principles of public health,” Dr. Craig Spencer, the director of Global Health in Emergency Medicine at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, tweeted after Pence’s visit, calling Pence’s action “dangerous & disrespectful.”

While Pence finally admitted a mistake, Donald Trump still refuses to wear masks in public, saying on April 4, “I don’t think I’m going to be doing it.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.