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President Trumps campaign event in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday evening, his first rally since the pandemic gripped the nation, incorporates all of the hallmarks of the typical Trump campaign event red hats, boisterous crowds, and a candidate who revels in the adoration ofhis fans. But in a development from his past rallies, the President was joined by one of his most ardent supporters, Representative Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the third-term congresswoman who represents much of New Yorks upstate and Adirondack region.

The question is why?

During Presidents Trumps election in 2016, Stefanik, who represents New Yorks 21st Congressional District, offered only tepid support for candidate Trump, and she made critical comments about his past actions and policies. Since the 2016 election, she has had a mixed record of supporting and critiquing the Presidents policies, but that all changed in November of 2019. Yet following Stefaniks full-throated defense of Trump during House Intelligence Committee impeachment hearings and her often combative exchanges with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) who chaired the committe, the President tweeted a new Republican Star is born. Shortly after the Presidents Tweet, the New York congresswoman appeared on Sean Hannitys show on Fox News, an appearance that reportedly helped raise her profile and quickly raise $500,000 for her reelection campaign. Her star appearance on Fox also prompted the President to once again sing her praises a few days later on the networks show, Fox & Friends and appointing her to his impeachment defense team.

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 06: Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) (C) stands as she's acknowledged by U.S. ... [+] President Donald Trump as he speaks one day after the U.S. Senate acquitted on two articles of impeachment, in the East Room of the White House February 6, 2020 in Washington, DC. After five months of congressional hearings and investigations about President Trumps dealings with Ukraine, the U.S. Senate formally acquitted the president of charges that he abused his power and obstructed Congress. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Since that #MAGA-defining moment, Stefanik has been a key defender of the President, and reveled in the media attention that comes along with it. For his part, the President has retweeted Stefanik multiple times, acknowledged her during his State of the Union address following his impeachment acquittal, and invited her to travel with him on Air Force One to theKennedy Space Center for the launch of the SpaceX rocket last month.But by bringing Stefanik to Tulsa this weekend to open up for him in his first rally in months, its clear that the President is ready to elevate her profile even higher.

But what exactly does the New York Congresswoman bring to the Presidents reelection campaign this weekend and beyond?

For a president who is laser focused on media appeal, Stefanik is a sure winner. Her frequent presence on television during Trumps impeachment hearings shows she is not afraid to step out and be a surrogate for the President, even when others wont. Second, the President is in dire need of a boost to his appeal with women voters. Recent polling shows the president trailing the Democratic candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, by a significant margin, particularly among women. Stefaniks appeal then is not only her politics, but the fact that she is an up-and-coming female leader in the Republican party that desperately needs more female faces in its leadership ranks. For example, at the rally in Tulsa this weekend, in addition to Stefanik, Trump will be joined by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton and Ohio Representative Jim Jordan.Neither will likely help broaden Trumps appeal to women, particularly independents and moderates.

But Stefanik might.

With Biden having already announced that his running mate will be a woman, it wouldnt be surprising if Trump who is the epitome of politically unconventional decides he would benefit from a female running mate as well. And while Mike Pence has been a dutiful Vice President for Trump over the last three and half years, it wouldnt be surprising to see Trump, who is notorious for his catch-phrase Youre Fired, to blame his administrations woeful pandemic response on Pence, who lead the White Houses Coronavirus Task Force. Pence has also been noticeably quiet of late as the President comes under immense criticism for not only the pandemic response, but also for his response to the protests that have swept the nation in the wake of George Floyds death. Stefanik, for her part has been outspoken about the need to root out racism in America, but has notably avoided attending Black Lives Matters protests in her home district.

So, is Tulsa a test run of Stefanik on the presidential campaign trail? Possibly. Even if Trump doesnt take the extraordinary step of swapping out Pence for Stefanik, it is likely that the Republican Congresswoman will be a frequent surrogate for a presidential campaign in need of a boost. For Stefaniks part, if she is, in fact, the rising star Trump claims her to be, then her newfound national statusjust might take her to new political peaks higher the Adirondack mountains of her home district of in upstate New York.

Either way, it appears Elise Stefanik is having her next moment on the national stage just exactly how big a role she plays, however, remains to be seen.

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Will Trump Dump Pence? After Her Tulsa Tryout, Elise Stefanik Could Be The Presidents Next VP - Forbes

Back in late February, Vice President Mike Pence's closest aides recognized that his new role leading the federal government's COVID-19 response would be his biggest presidential assignment yet.

Pence had helped with top initiatives for Trump before. Some were successful, like his work to launch the Space Force and high-dollar campaign fundraising for the president's reelection. Other Pence-led efforts ended with anything but good results for his boss, including the failed bid to repeal Obamacare.

But managing the White House Coronavirus Task Force marked the first time President Donald Trump had delegated his No. 2 with any serious executive authority. Pence would be chairing meetings with the country's top national security and public health officials, corralling big personalities, and delivering grim updates to the public. He'd be the face of the United States as it handled what would become the worst public health crisis facing the planet in a century.

It was heady stuff, and it meant Pence would be back on some familiar terrain as a chief executive. The former Indiana governor had largely avoided that kind of portfolio since arriving in Washington in 2017, but the task force offered him the high-profile chance to show off his own crisis management skills ahead of what's expected to be a 2024 run for the White House.

Not long before the pandemic struck, one Pence confidant told Insider that the vice president didn't deserve the reputation he'd gotten as someone who was tired of carrying all of Trump's negative baggage. In fact, Pence actually enjoyed not having to make hard calls on the fly the way he used to when back in the state house in Indianapolis. The painful moments of the Trump presidency were Trump's alone, and the confidant said Pence welcomed the job he had of only having to explain them.

But with COVID-19, Pence was back to being the leader on a tough issue, and the three months that would follow provided the best picture yet of both his agility for surviving in the tumultuous Trump era and also how he'd run the country if he won the White House in another four years.

Delegating Pence to the COVID task force job marked an important moment in his relationship with Trump. It also further cemented their own links both personally and for their long-term legacies.

Trump and Pence barely knew each other when they first teamed up in the summer of 2016. Their alliance, the byproduct of a slapdash courtship that was as much about political convenience as anything else, centered around Pence helping placate conservative and religious voters concerned that the thrice-married, foul-mouthed Trump didn't have the moral compass to lead the country.

Once in office, the two men struggled to find a rhythm. Pence ran into stiff headwinds on Capitol Hill trying to fulfill the president's campaign promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. He also worked overtime to stay out of legal trouble as special counsel Robert Mueller probed whether the Trump campaign had conspired with Russia to win the 2016 presidential election.

By last fall, Trump was even entertaining the idea of replacing Pence on the ticket for 2020.

But Trump's own escape from impeachment in January helped the two US leaders turn a corner and cement a fairly strong relationship. And as the severity of the coronavirus slowly dawned on Trump and his team, the president turned to Pence to coordinate the federal government's response across more than a dozen agencies and with the states.

"The president knew immediately what an important position of trust, confidence and competence the head of the task force would be, and that is why he chose the vice president," Kellyanne Conway, a senior White House adviser who worked with Pence long before he joined the Trump administration, told Insider in an interview.

Pence brought "familiarity, empathy and perspective" to the job, Conway said. He also had a way of connecting with the nation's governors because of his own four-year stint running Indiana.

At the daily COVID-19 task force meetings, Pence provided a calm, measured style built on listening and processing information and ideas from various corners of the administration, Conway said. It's a skill that people who know the vice president say he's honed over a career path that went from failed congressional candidate to conservative radio host to a seat in the US House and also by studying management books like Stephen Covey's "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" and Jim Collins' "Good to Great."

"He is passionate but not excitable," Conway said. "This really mattered in coordinating a response that required urgent action from all different parts of the federal government."

A senior Trump administration official familiar with the task force meetings said Pence played the role of referee during meetings that involved the government's top scientists, public health, immigration and national security officials. When someone offered an idea the vice president didn't like or disagreed with, he asked them to expand on their position instead of snapping at them or attacking them.

"You want diversity in opinion. There's always good robust discussion. I haven't seen acrimony," the official said. "I will give credit to the vice president, because I think he's very masterful at encouraging people to speak their mind. He's very encouraging. Makes everybody feel very good."

Pence's quiet, steady style also won increasing plaudits inside the DC beltway as his regular appearances created a stark contrast to the president's erratic briefings and tweets.

After Trump attacked reporters during one of his frequent press briefings on the pandemic, Pence pulled an NBC journalist aside to offer his condolences for one of their colleagues who died after testing positive for the coronavirus. When Trump caused a media firestorm by saying he had started taking hydroxychloroquine, a potentially harmful anti-malarial drug, Pence simply said he wouldn't be taking the medicine himself.

The vice president's relatively normal handling of the coronavirus briefings and his command of the facts even led POLITICO media columnist Jack Shafer to suggest Pence be named the new White House press secretary.

"I want to trust Pence, but doubt that anyone so devoted to the president's elephantine ego can be relied on to give the truth," Shafer wrote. "But Pence's best moments on the dais this month allow us to recall a time when expecting the government to give it to us straight about matters of life and death was not unreasonable."

Pence allies maintain that the vice president's work on the COVID task force provided an ideal platform to showcase his governing skills.

Immediately after taking its reins, the vice president dropped all Trump campaign activities to focus on fighting the pandemic, said David McIntosh, the former Indiana GOP congressman and close friend of Pence's since the early 1990s who now runs the Club for Growth, a conservative nonprofit group.

"He views this as, 'I'm going to focus on whatever it takes to implement the president's decisions on how to battle the coronavirus,'" McIntosh said.

With a boss like Trump, there are the obvious messaging challenges. "That's always a delicate balance when you've got all these experts saying one thing and the president saying something else," McIntosh said.

People close to the vice president also say his role atop the task force forced him to remain a presence when he otherwise might have followed a different route of drifting in and out of an issue if it wasn't going well. "The biggest difference is he was given direct responsibility," McIntosh said.

Pence's handling of the COVID issue has also helped with his standing among right-leaning activists.

"Pence's stock is way up," said Stephen Moore, the conservative economist who is close to the Trump White House. "He's seen by conservatives as a strong leader. He's done really well in the press conferences and been universally praised."

Even among a furtive band of NeverTrump conservatives that often chided Pence for enabling Trump George Will famously labeled the vice president "oleaginous," which is a clever term for ass-kissing Pence has found some support.

"It's self-evident that Pence would have handled the pandemic better," opinion columnist Jonah Goldberg wrote earlier this week in the Los Angeles Times. "His stewardship of the White House coronavirus task force was marked by quiet, assured and reassuring, professionalism. If he hawked hydroxychloroquine or bleach as potential miracle cures, I missed it."

But Pence's public stance on the coronavirus has recently taken a more abrupt political turn that mimics the president's overall messaging that it's time to restart the economy even if the public health crisis hasn't abated.

On a Monday call with the nation's governors, the vice president urged the state leaders to tell their residents that recent increases in cases were due to more testing, a position undercut by scientists and epidemiologists who say the spikes are not just because of better testing.

A day later, he published an op-ed in one of his favorite publications, The Wall Street Journal, arguing there would be no "second wave" of the coronavirus as epidemiologists had predicted for the fall. The vice president also accused the press of fabricating the continued danger of the pandemic.

"The media has tried to scare the American people every step of the way, and these grim predictions of a second wave are no different. The truth is, whatever the media says, our whole-of-America approach has been a success," Pence wrote.

Pence on Tuesday also defended Trump's decision to hold his first major campaign rally since the pandemic shut down large swaths of the country. Oklahoma, the host for Trump's upcoming event on Saturday, had "flattened the curve," Pence said, even though new coronavirus cases were actually spiking there.

And the vice president this week continued showing up in public without wearing a mask. Back in early May, Pence said he regretted not donning a protective face covering during a visit to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. While he later did wear a mask when traveling outside Washington, he's since dropped the routine during campaign stops out at restaurants with state GOP leaders in potential 2020 battlegrounds like Iowa, Georgia and Florida.

The same thing happened again Thursday. "Every single day, we're one day closer to putting the coronavirus in the past," Pence said during a mask-less visit to a steel plant in the Detroit suburbs.

Pence's public shifts have prompted some pushback. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases,rebutted Pence's "second wave" comment by saying the country was still very much in the grips of the first wave of the pandemic.

Fauci also contradicted Pence on the suggestion the country is ready for sizable public gatherings. "When I look at the TV and I see pictures of people congregating at bars when the location they are indicates they shouldn't be doing that, that's very risky," Fauci told The Wall Street Journal.

The vice president's move toward a decidedly political stance on COVID has also opened him up to new attacks from Trump's 2020 rival. While Joe Biden once took heat from his party's base for calling Pence a "decent guy," the presumptive Democratic president nominee on Wednesday singled out his successor as vice president for his optimistic take on the pandemic.

"Yesterday, the head of the White House task force on coronavirus, the vice president, claimed success because deaths are quote, 'down to fewer than 750 a day,'" Biden said during a campaign stop near Philadelphia. "More than 20,000 a month. That's greater than World War II-level casualties each month. That's more than five 9/11s each month. And this administration is engaging in self congratulations?"

Tom LoBianco is the author of "Piety & Power: Mike Pence and the Taking of the White House." It comes out in paperback June 30.

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Pence won plaudits at start of pandemic, but he's since shifted with political tides - Business Insider

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A new forecast is out: 200,000 people will die in the U.S. from the coronavirus by Oct. 1.

CBS News reports that 20 states are seeing increases in the average number of new infections each day. In nearly half of those states, there are more patients being treated in hospitals than there were at the start of June. The New York Times wrote, as of Saturday, the daily number of new coronavirus cases was climbing in 22 states, shifting course from what had been downward trajectories in many of those places.

Texas has seen hospitalizations rise more than 50% since Memorial Day. Florida is setting records with daily cases. A spokesperson at Jackson Health, one of Floridas largest health systems, said it is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases.

These are real numbers based on official data.

Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said Tuesday, We may be done with the pandemic, but the pandemic is not done with us.

And yet, in an op-ed published Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal, Vice President Mike Pence suggested the idea of a second wave of the coronavirus is one big media hoax.

Pence wrote, In recent days, the media has taken to sounding the alarm bells over a second wave of coronavirus infections. Such panic is overblown. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and the courage and compassion of the American people, our public health system is far stronger than it was four months ago, and we are winning the fight against the invisible enemy.

Pence mentioned cable news coverage, though he never named a specific network. He touted the Trump administrations work against the coronavirus, pointing out where he feels they have had success, as well as praising the resilience of the American people.

He closed by taking another shot at the media.

The media has tried to scare the American people every step of the way, and these grim predictions of a second wave are no different, Pence wrote. The truth is, whatever the media says, our whole-of-America approach has been a success. Weve slowed the spread, weve cared for the most vulnerable, weve saved lives, and weve created a solid foundation for whatever challenges we may face in the future. Thats a cause for celebration, not the medias fear mongering.

Maybe Pence is right in that this isnt the second wave. After all, theres reason to believe were still very much in the first wave, with a second wave still to come, as Poynters Al Tompkins wrote Tuesday. But Pences point seemed to be that we are well on our way to getting back to normal when, in fact, we dont know that to be the case.

Especially troubling is Pences assertion that the media was practicing fear mongering and that its intention was to scare the American people every step of the way.

Let me repeat what Pence claims. The media has been trying to scare Americans every step of the way, as if a virus that is projected to kill 200,000 by October isnt frightening enough.

Maybe Pence should realize the media was simply reporting facts, while trying to warn the American people of the very real danger the coronavirus has been and continues to be.

In terms of wanting to see the country reopen, the economy bounce back and for life to return to whatever normal will be, the media has as much at stake as most industries. As a whole, news media have gone through devastating economic times because of the coronavirus, forcing massive layoffs, pay cuts and many news organizations to shut down. Just check out this incredibly depressing list compiled by Poynters Kristen Hare.

To suggest that the media wants to scare people is irresponsible of the vice president. And all this comes a day after Pence, in a conference call, told U.S. governors to stick to the Trump company line that testing was the reason behind all these new coronavirus outbreaks, even though those claims are misleading.

While not filled with the type of misleading and false statements seen in Sen. Tom Cottons op-ed in The New York Times that caused such a ruckus, Pences op-ed most definitely couldve used a heavier editing hand from The Wall Street Journal. Pence blamed the media, yet never offered specific examples of how the media acted irresponsibly. He didnt even mention one single news outlet by name. The Journal should not have let him get away with such accusations.

If Pence wanted to tout the administrations successes, calm the fears of Americans and paint an optimistic picture by pointing out positive numbers and moments, thats fine. If he wanted to brag on his president and tell the American people to keep the faith, thats fine, too. If he wanted it to be a campaign rally in print, that also would have been fine.

But an op-ed that essentially started with yet another version of this administrations favorite phrase fake news should not have been allowed by The Wall Street Journal, especially if Pence couldnt back up such claims.

Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy, at a game last season. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Could wearing a T-shirt of a cable news network cause a college football coach to lose his job? Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy went fishing recently and a tweet showed him wearing a T-shirt from OAN the controversial conservative news network thats a favorite of President Donald Trump, and one which frequently amplifies and creates unverified conspiracy theories and recently had a host who called Black Lives Matter a farce.

One of Gundys top players, running back Chuba Hubbard, tweeted, I will not stand for this. This is completely insensitive to everything going on in society, and its unacceptable. I will not be doing anything with Oklahoma State until things CHANGE.

Several of Hubbards teammates showed support for Hubbard, and eventually Hubbard and Gundy put out a joint video saying they would work on improving the culture at Oklahoma State.

The T-shirt alone isnt enough to put Gundys job in jeopardy, but this is hardly his first controversy. He made ridiculous comments about the coronavirus that he had to immediately walk back, he has referred to it as the Chinese virus, criticized the media and has previously praised OAN as refreshing.

Noted football commentator Paul Finebaum of ESPN finally had enough. On Tuesdays Get Up! Finebaum went off:

What I cant understand is why Mike Gundy has been allowed to continue at Oklahoma State. This is not his first rodeo. This is not the first time he has embarrassed if not humiliated that university. The sooner Oklahoma State gets rid of Mike Gundy, the better its going to be for that school and especially the players who go out there every Saturday and give their blood, sweat and tears.

QuickNews the news aggregator using the latest and greatest advances in artificial intelligence to serve you a personalized news feed in real time. Free of political bias, containing only top-notch sources, and able to learn your interests on the fly, its used by thousands of users across five continents. Available on both iOS and Android.

Alexis Johnson, the Black journalist that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yanked off protest coverage because of a tweet, has filed a federal civil lawsuit against the Post-Gazette. The suit alleges that the Post-Gazette violated the Civil Rights Act of 1866 by barring her from protest coverage. Johnson tweeted photos of trash after an old Kenny Chesney concert and the P-G determined that made her biased.

Johnsons suit shows other Post-Gazette writers who have spoken out on news events, including reporters who talked about discrimination and hate following the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shootings. Those reporters, the suit claims, were not barred from covering that story.

Nate Doughty has more details about the suit in Pittsburgh Business Times.

Meanwhile, Post-Gazette executive editor Keith Burris wrote about the situation last week in a story published by the P-G. But he had turned down media requests for interviews and comments, including several requests from Poynter. Until Monday night. Thats when he appeared on Laura Ingrahams show on Fox News. Ingraham seemed nothing but sympathetic to Burris, saying the paper was being smeared by the left as, you got it, racist.

You got it? What is that supposed to mean?

Anyway, Burris told Ingraham, I think it is the power of the big lie and the mob. The Twitter mob.

First off, Burris should be reminded of the origins of the phrase the big lie, an anti-Semitic term that goes back to Hitler. If that wasnt bad enough, Burris complaints and the show where he decided to air those gripes were incredibly tone-deaf. How could he not have known that going on Ingrahams show and saying what he said would not play well with the P-G staff? I spoke with two Post-Gazette staffers on Tuesday who questioned Burris leadership, especially when it comes to this story, and there are calls for his resignation.

In addition, P-G reporter Michael Fuoco, who is president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, tweeted about the Post-Gazette and the lawsuit by saying, And all they had to do was apologize for their actions.

Law enforcement officials applaud after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on police reform on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

On Tuesday, President Trump signed an executive order regarding police reform. Then, near the end of his 25-minute speech, Trumps message shifted from police reform to other topics, including the stock market and the coronavirus. Among his comments were several misleading or false statements.

Instead of sticking with the speech, MSNBC cut away as Andrea Mitchell said, He has now launched into what would be a campaign rally speech stating, inaccurately in fact, some facts about the pandemic, not acknowledging 116,000 deaths, but saying that without a vaccine that people are getting well.

As far as the speech, CNNs Van Jones said, The speech, I dont give it a high rating, but the executive order is a step in the right direction.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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Mike Pence's op-ed in The Wall Street Journal takes aim at two enemies: coronavirus and 'the media' - Poynter

The news in the US has been dominated by anti-racism protests for the past couple of weeks, but coronavirus is now back in the headlines.

Several states have seen a record number of cases in recent days, leading to fears that the country is experiencing a second wave of infections.

But Vice-President Mike Pence said those fears were "overblown" and accused the media of using "grim predictions" to scare the American people.

So what is going on in the US?

With more than two million coronavirus cases, the US has the highest number of confirmed infections in the world - about a quarter of the global total.

The situation got really bad in late March but by May, cases were declining and most states had begun to ease restrictions put into place to halt the spread of the virus.

The number of new cases rarely fell below 20,000 though, because as some states were bringing their outbreaks under control, others were only just beginning to see flare-ups.

For this reason, the top US health official for infectious diseases, Anthony Fauci, sees the current situation as a continuation of the initial outbreaks.

"People keep talking about a second wave," he told a reporter last week. "We're still in a first wave."

Spikes in cases in those new hotspots mean the country's overall seven-day average has now risen for several days in a row for the first time since cases peaked in early April.

The North East has been by far the worst-hit region, with about a quarter of all US cases and more than a third of all US deaths occurring in the states of New York and New Jersey. But in recent weeks, the region has brought its outbreaks under control.

The South and West of the country, on the other hand, have seen a big rise in the number of infections, according to data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.

There's no debate over whether cases are going up again, but there is over why.

President Donald Trump blames it on increased testing, telling the Wall Street Journal he thinks "testing is overrated" because "in many ways, it makes us look bad."

The US has conducted more tests than any other country - about 25 million so far - so that does go some way to explaining why it has the highest number of cases in the world, although international comparisons are difficult to make for a number of reasons.

But there's plenty of evidence to suggest the recent rise in infections is down to more than just a higher number of people being tested.

Twice last week, Arizona saw more new cases on its own than the entire nine-state North East region and that's not just down to increased testing.

This is clear when you look at the rate of coronavirus tests that are coming back positive.

If lots of tests are being done and the spread of the virus has been reduced, then the positive case rate would go down too. If the virus is still being spread widely, it goes up.

At the moment the positive case rate is just below 5% nationally, which is the level the World Health Organization recommends countries be at or below for 14 days before they ease restrictions on movement.

But about a third of states are above that level, as the chart below shows, and all of them have reopened to some extent over the last month.

The number of people being hospitalised has also risen in a number of these states, including Texas, where some reopened bars and restaurants are now closing their doors again, reports the Texas Tribune, because of fears over a new surge of cases.

Faced with rising case numbers and an economy that desperately needs to get going again, many public officials are looking to facemasks to help slow the spread of the virus. California, North Carolina and several US cities mandated or urged their use last week.

But masks have become increasingly politicised in recent weeks, with President Trump saying some people wear them primarily to show opposition to him.

Amid all of the fears about new hotspots, the most positive news in the US at the moment is that daily deaths continue to fall.

They peaked back in May when the outbreaks in the Northeast were at their most intense, with New York state alone registering around 1,000 a day. This week, that figure is about 40 a day.

However, deaths is a metric that lags behind cases and hospitalisations because it can take several weeks for those who are worst-hit to die from the disease. That means the consequences of the current spikes in cases won't be seen for a couple of weeks at least.

If we do see the number of deaths edging up, there will likely be some pressure on governors to reintroduce restrictions but Dr Fauci doesn't think that will happen.

"I don't think we're going to be talking about going back to lockdown," he said last week. "I think we're going to be talking about trying to better control those areas of the country that seem to be having a surge of cases."

Researchers are racing to produce a vaccine but it's clear that Americans, and the rest of the world, are going to be living with the virus until next year at the earliest.

So far, the US has recorded about 120,000 coronavirus deaths - the highest death toll in the world.

But one forecasting model run by experts at the University of Washington, which has been cited by the White House in the past, predicts that number will have passed 200,000 by October - a month before the election.

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Coronavirus: Is the pandemic getting worse in the US? - BBC News

What would a President Mike Pence do?

Its a question no one is asking, so I guess it falls to me.

In January 2020 it was almost as if God, the universe or our Lizard People overlords were giving the Republicans one last chance to separate their fate from President Donald Trumps. The Higher Power couldnt actually tell the GOP, If you dont choose wisely, youll be stuck with him during a time of trials, tribulations and even a plague. But its not like they werent warned that the president would one day be tested beyond his abilities. Prophets dont predict, they warn. And such warnings have been thick in the air for a very long time.

But few Republicans heeded, and a complaisance just shy of Stockholm syndrome finally set in. After all, the economy was humming, the normal rules of politics had not applied to this president for so long, and the base was so invested in Trump, best to keep your head down. Sodom and Gomorrah were fun towns while they lasted too.

Like a TV drama that needs to foreshadow the plot twists of the next season, the plague actually started as a subplot of the impeachment drama. Tom Cotton left the Senate trial at one point to lobby the White House to take the strange illness plaguing the Chinese city of Wuhan seriously. It all seems so foreordained in hindsight. Isnt that always the way?

Of course, one might argue that the president shouldnt have been removed from office because he wasnt guilty. But few Republicans, outside the president and his coterie, actually took this position. Most hid behind the claim that the prosecution hadnt made its case, even as the Senate moved to block the prosecution from fully making its case. A handful of senators, led by Lamar Alexander, conceded that Trump did abuse his power by pressuring Ukraine to muddy up Joe Biden, but that his missteps werent worth impeaching him over. As Marco Rubio put it, Just because actions meet a standard of impeachment does not mean it is in the best interest of the country to remove a president from office.

Fair enough. But here we are. And that raises the question: Would we be better off today without President Trump? Those who claimed, quite angrily, that impeachment would have overturned an election always ignored the fact that the 12th Amendment prevents that. Removal would have delivered a President Pence, not a President Hillary Clinton.

Its self-evident that Pence would have handled the pandemic better. His stewardship of the White House coronavirus task force was marked by quiet, assured and reassuring, professionalism. If he hawked hydroxychloroquine or bleach as potential miracle cures, I missed it.

It is true, of course, that whenever given the opportunity to put distance between himself and the president, Pence never does. It feels to me, though, that this is because he is in hostage mode, stoically reciting into the camera whatever his captor has demanded he say. I always look for signs that he is trying to blink the Morse code for TORTURE into the cameras, but so far I havent seen it.

With Pence as president, its unlikely the White House would have launched the Battle of Lafayette Park, nor would Pence have floated conspiracy theories about Joe Scarborough being a murderer or a 75-year-old Buffalo, N.Y., man being an antifa provocateur. More broadly, the policies that Trump enablers claim are the benefits that come with the transactional costs of tolerating or even celebrating the self-destructive drama of his presidency would disappear.

While the country would be in better shape, its hard to know if the GOP would be, at least in the short term. On one hand, post-impeachment Pence surely would have gotten the rally-around-the-leader bump that Trump frittered away (and that nearly all state governors are still enjoying).

On the other hand, Trumps rage-tweeting from his Mar-a-Lago Elba certainly would have created problems for the Republican senators who voted to convict. But the contrast between the staid President Pence and his predecessor might actually help Pence attract the Republican-friendly voters Trump has scared away.

More important, the same binary choice logic constantly used to justify support for Trump would apply. Do you want to give the Democrats total control of government or do you want to hold your nose and vote for the lesser evil?

Obviously, its all spilled milk now. But its a useful mental exercise nonetheless. Because if the suggestion that we would be better off had the Republicans removed Trump from office enrages you beyond your pet theories of the impeachment case against him it might indicate your support of Trump is less transactional than you like to claim.

Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. On Twitter: @JonahDispatch.

Link:
OPINION EXCHANGE | Would we be better off with a President Pence in these turbulent times? - Minneapolis Star Tribune