Mike Pence brings back coronavirus briefing to claim yet again 'America is turning the corner' as deaths pass 250,0000 - with Dr. Fauci back in the White House but NO questions allowed
Vice President Mike Pence brought back the coronavirus taskforce briefing Thursday - complete with an appearance by Dr. Anthony Fauci - but refused to take reporters' questions as President Donald Trump refuses to concede the election.
Pence - and Fauci too - were upbeat about the vaccine news, with the vice president quoting Trump saying, 'We are rounding the corner to the day we have a vaccine for the American people.'
'We want to encourage every American to continue to do your part. Wash your hands. Practice social distancing. Wear a mask when social distancing is impossible,' Pence continued. 'Put the health of your family and the health of your neighbors and the people in your community first.'
Vice President Mike Pence brought back the coronavirus taskforce briefing Thursday, assuring the American people, 'We are rounding the corner to the day we have a vaccine'
Dr. Anthony Fauci (left) appeared at the coronavirus taskforce briefing alongside Vice President Mike Pence (right) on Thursday
Dr. Anthony Fauci vouched for the safety of a forthcoming coronavirus vaccine, with both Pfizer and Moderna showing promising results
Dr. Anthony Fauci (left) and Dr. Deborah Birx (right) wait for their turns to speak Thursday at the coronavirus taskforce briefing at the White House
Vice President Mike Pence and other taskforce members file out as reporters try to get questions in. None of the members answered questions Thursday
With a 'thank you all' he walked away from the podium, leaving reporters in the press briefing room standing and screaming.
Earlier this week, the U.S. surpassed 250,000 deaths from the virus, with cases ticking up around the country.
With Trump's refusal to concede, President-elect Joe Biden's transition team hasn't been able to access funds or information from the federal government, including details on how they plan to distribute the vaccine.
Biden's January 20 Inauguration will come weeks after Fauci predicted first doses of the vaccine will go out, which he said at the briefing could happen as soon as late December.
'I really want to settle the concern that people have,' Fauci said of fears that vaccine development might have been hurried. 'We need to put to rest any concept this was rushed in any inappropriate way.'
Fauci explained that a third-party committee that doesn't have stakes in the U.S. government's effort nor the pharmaceutical companies' reported the promising results from both Pfizer and Moderna's coronavirus vaccines.
At a Miami rally days before the election, Trump hinted that he might fire Fauci after November 3.
So far, he hasn't gone through with it.
Dr. Deborah Birx, whose public role has been diminished, was also on hand at the Thursday briefing.
Trump, however, has kept out of sight since the election was called for Biden on November 7.
He appeared on Veterans Day and again last Friday, to talk in the Rose Garden about Operation Warp Speed.
There, he complained about how Pfizer said the company wasn't a part of that effort.
The federal government pledged to buy doses of the vaccine from Pfizer as part of Operation Warp Speed, but the company didn't take money for development.
Pence, in the meantime, has been filling in for the president, holding coronavirus taskforce meetings, traveling to Florida to watch the latest NASA-SpaceX rocket launch and going to Dover, Delaware to attend a dignified transfer ceremony.
Trump's quest to overturn the election result has been represented by Rudy Giuliani and a handful of other attorneys, who appeared at a press conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters earlier Thursday.
Giuliani, who did take questions, alleged a wild conspiracy allowed Biden to win more votes - and argued Trump was actual the winner.
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