Vice President Mike Pence bumped elbows with Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday after stepping off Air Force Two in Takoma, Washington.
Pence, who is leading the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, flew to Washington state, where the death toll associated with the illness is the highest in the nation, to meet with officials.
Pence landed at McChord Field Airport, where he was welcomed by Inslee, eschewing a handshake amid the coronavirus outbreak. Health experts have warned that shaking hands is a good way to transmit COVID-19, which has spread across the globe.
Pence will participate in a roundtable discussion with state and local officials focused on the response to the coronavirus and will tour the state emergency operations center in Takoma.
.@Mike_Pence just walked off Air Force Two — Seeing elbow taps, no handshakes so far #coronavirus @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/7l8aOlWNov
— Michael Spears (@MichaelKIRO7) March 5, 2020
The coronavirus outbreak has been particularly pervasive in Washington state, where the number of cases nearly doubled overnight to 70 on Thursday, and the death toll has risen to 11.
Inslee, a Democrat who ran a short-lived campaign for president, criticized the Trump administration’s response to COVID-19 after speaking over the phone with Pence last week.
“I just received a call from @VP Mike Pence, thanking Washington state for our efforts to combat the coronavirus. I told him our work would be more successful if the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth,” he said.
I just received a call from @VP Mike Pence, thanking Washington state for our efforts to combat the coronavirus.
I told him our work would be more successful if the Trump administration stuck to the science and told the truth.
— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) February 28, 2020
