White House adviser Kellyanne Conway is speaking out to defend Vice President Mike Pence’s latest op-ed dismissing the idea of possibly a second wave of coronavirus.
During an appearance on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” Wednesday, Conway was asked about Pence’s portrayal of the coronavirus.
Host Sandra Smith recalled Pence’s dialogue in his Wall Street Journal piece titled, “There Isn’t a Coronavirus Second Wave.” Smith noted that Pence blasted the media for its reporting of the virus despite evidence of the number of cases surging in multiple states.
“In recent days, the media has taken to sounding the alarm bells over a ‘second wave’ of coronavirus infections,” Pence wrote. “Such panic is overblown.”
Smith described Pence’s op-ed as a “very rosy picture” of the ongoing pandemic.
“He’s painting a very rosy picture of what we are seeing and saying basically that the American public is being misled,” Smith said of Pence’s piece.
She went on to question whether or not Pence’s stance aligns with the observations and projections of the Coronavirus Task Force’s medical experts advising the White House.
“Is that, perhaps, too rosy a picture, and is that in line with medical professionals advising the White House?” Smith asked.
See Conway’s remarks below:
Conway fired back in Pence’s defense saying he has done an “incredible job” leading the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
“The president put him in that role because the president knew how important that role would be,” Conway said.
She added, “I don’t think that’s a rosy picture. It’s this: That we’re still in the first wave. So those who are irresponsibly… the non-professional professional critics are telling us, ‘We’re in the second wave. We’re about to have a second wave. We’re still in the first wave. That’s why we want people to know that.”
“At the same time, we need to reopen our country and what this vice president is making clear, what Dr. Fauci said yesterday is we’re still in the first wave,” Conway said.
Conway went on to note the progress being made with testing expansion and clinical studies for potential vaccines.
Conway’s remarks come just one day after President Donald Trump’s press briefing in the Rose Garden where he, too, discussed clinical vaccine studies.
The president pressed for an expedited timeline for a vaccine while praising scientists saying, “These are the people – the best, the smartest, the most brilliant anywhere, and they’ve come up with the AIDS vaccine. They’ve come up with … various things.”
However, it is important to note that there is no vaccine for the AIDS virus.
As of Wednesday afternoon, there are more than 2.2 million positive coronavirus cases in the United States. Over 20 states are now facing an uptick in cases after reopening. Like the number of cases, the death toll is also continuing to rise as it nears 119,500.
