Vice President Mike Pence was criticized for not wearing a face covering during a visit to the Mayo Clinic, despite it being required for all visitors during the coronavirus pandemic.
Video emerged Tuesday of Pence, who leads the White House Coronavirus Task Force, standing in the medical center near a patient and surrounded by officials and staff who were all wearing masks. He was the only one in the video not wearing some form of face covering.
“Mayo Clinic had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today,” the Mayo Clinic, which is based in Minnesota, said in a now-deleted tweet.
The Mayo Clinic shared a slightly different statement to the Washington Examiner. “Mayo shared the masking policy with the VP’s office,” that statement said, omitting any indication whether the vice president’s team was informed of the masking policy before the visit.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the vice president’s office for clarification but did not receive a response back. Pence did respond to the questions about the visit from the press pool.
“As vice president of the United States I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus,” Pence said, noting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said masks help prevent the spread of the coronavirus from those who have it.
“And 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 healthcare personnel and look them in the eye and say thank you,” the vice president added.
The Mayo Clinic’s rules require all patients and visitors to wear a face covering or mask to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. “Patients and visitors are asked to bring their own face covering or mask to wear. If a patient or visitor does not have a mask, Mayo Clinic will provide one,” an online guidance says.
President Trump has not been seen wearing a face mask. Earlier this month, the president said he thinks it would look foolish wearing a mask while speaking to world leaders.
“Somehow, sitting in the Oval Office, sitting behind that beautiful Resolute Desk, the great Resolute Desk, I think wearing a face mask as I greet presidents, prime ministers, dictators, kings, queens — I don’t know. I just don’t see it for myself,” Trump said.
First lady Melania Trump appeared in a public service announcement earlier this month wearing a face mask and urged others to do the same.
PENCE flouts Mayo Clinic policy that everyone on campus wear a mask, even as he meets with staff and a patient. pic.twitter.com/kfo64KQDhU
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) April 28, 2020
