HAVE WE WON? Coronavirus task force chief Mike Pence: You did it, America.
It was early in the virus fight when only a few in the United States had died of COVID-19 that White House coronavirus task force leader Vice President Mike Pence and Drs. Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx went into the Oval Office with bad news.
Armed with a chart titled “Goals of Community Mitigation,” they showed President Trump that without the type of social distancing they wanted him to put in place, the virus death toll could reach 1.5 million to 2.2 million. With it, the range would drop to 100,000 to 240,000.
“The president said, ‘Do it.’ No hesitation,” recalled the vice president.
The public was urged to stay apart and stay home to “flatten the curve” of the pandemic, and they did. Today, as many states begin to ease rules near the Memorial Day holiday week turning point that Pence predicted, the death toll, tragic as it is, stands at the lowest level on that chart.
And Pence believes that while he, the president, the administration, governors, and industry did yeoman’s work to contain the virus, it is the public that deserves the biggest applause.
“This is all evidence of what the American people have done,” Pence said in his first interview to review the battle. “Because of the cooperation and compassion of the American people, we slowed the spread, we flattened the curve, we saved lives, and I have no doubt about that,” said the vice president during an hourlong talk with Secrets.
The way I see it, over 2 million lives have been saved thanks to President Trump’s swift, no-hesitation action. Bravo!