Vp Pence Quotes

If you want to do it now,” Priebus continued, “Pence is prepared to step up, and Condi Rice will come in as his VP.

VP Pence himself also assured me that the data and policies I expressed were correct; he had requested from me, and personally read, summaries of studies and documents on schools, risks to children, testing, and other issues. Given that the VP was in charge of the Task Force, shouldn’t the bottom-line advice emanating from it comport with the policies of the administration? But he would never speak with Dr. Birx at all.

Unfortunately, nothing actually changed. Birx persisted in promoting her own advice: recommendations that prompted fear and perpetuated the lockdowns. And that advice was implemented by almost all the governors, regardless of any attempt to deny that and avoid accountability. Eventually I figured out the dynamic. Birx obviously was very knowledgeable about two things, regardless of her expertise on the pandemic itself. First, she knew that the VP had her back, often echoing her words. Clearly, he was conscious that the Task Force—which he directed—was the most visible evidence of his own work in the administration. That meant that its perceived positives must be protected—nothing about it that the public viewed as positive would be minimized or criticized. Pence had zero intention of “rocking the boat” with Birx or Fauci, even though he was very receptive to my thoughts and readily agreed with the data I presented.

Time and again, when loyalists came to him expecting a job in the VP’s immediate orbit, Pence surprised by asking them to fill a role elsewhere, one from which they could report back to him. To be an influential vice president, he would need eyes and ears across the government.