Pence: We want to push politics aside and get the resources we need
Vice President Mike Pence sits down for an exclusive interview with Sean Hannity Thursday February 27 at 10pm.
Vice President Mike Pence told Fox News' Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview Thursday that President Trump asked him to reach out to Democratic leaders in Congress, particularly House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, about efforts to counter the coronavirus outbreak in an effort to "push politics aside."
"The President also directed me to reach out," Pence said. "I spoke to Speaker Pelosi. I spoke to Senator Schumer."
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Pence told the host he had "good conversations" with both leaders before Hannity noted that they "were politicizing" the outbreak "almost instantaneously."
"I know, but look the President said to me look I want you to reach out to the Republican and Democrat leadership," Pence said, "Because we want to push politics aside, we want to make sure we get the resources that we need to respond to this to make sure that the CDC, all of our agencies, have the support that they need."
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Pelosi criticized the White House’s emergency planning as “inadequate" Monday while Schumer said the administration's response was "towering and dangerous incompetence" on the Senate floor Tuesday.
On Wednesday Trump accused Pelosi and Schumer of politicizing the coronavirus issue, calling Pelosi “incompetent” during a press conference in which he sought to minimize fears of the virus spreading and announced that Pence would head up Washington’s response to the outbreak.
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“She’s trying to create a panic and there is no reason to panic,” Trump said. "All they are trying to do is get a political advantage, but this shouldn’t be a political thing.”
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a congressional subcommittee on Wednesday that the risk of contracting the coronavirus in the United States remains low, but warned that the country will most likely see more cases as the outbreak spreads globally.
Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly contributed to this report.
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