Mike Pence Absurdly Claims Trump Wasn’t ‘Downplaying Anything’ After Trump Tells Bob Woodward That’s What He Did

Vice President Mike Pence is defending President Donald Trump over his recorded admission of downplaying the coronavirus despite being knowledgeable of the disease’s lethality.

In an interview with Fox News’ Sandra Smith on Thursday, Pence shook his head at the notion that Trump misinformed the American public by dismissing Covid-19 after acknowledging the seriousness of the pandemic to Bob Woodward. The vice president faced a multitude of questions on the matter, with Smith asking if he received the briefing where White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien warned Trump, “This will be the biggest national security threat you face in your presidency.”

Pence said he was briefed in the Oval Office that day, but then he diverted to Trump’s (incomplete) China travel ban and proclaimed it “an historic example of presidential leadership. It saved hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives.” He also insisted that Trump took the virus seriously “from Day One,” even as health experts tried to learn about the pandemic in its early stages.

From there, Smith brought up White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who said he “would not have recommended” Trump speak to Woodward as he did 18 times. This prompted Pence to brag of Trump’s press accessibility as Smith asked “was that a good idea?”

“This president has been straight with the American people,” Pence said. He continued by referring to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s insistence that Trump did not distort information on the pandemic.

“That’s what I saw as well,” Pence said. “I actually didn’t sense the president was downplaying anything. We were giving the American people the facts as we knew them, as we learned them every step of the way.”

Woodward’s recordings show that Trump told him on March 19, “I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don’t want to create a panic.” The virus has killed over 190,000 Americans since the pandemic began.

Watch above, via Fox News.