Pence 'Maintaining Distance' From Trump After VP's Aide Gets Sick

Pence is keeping distance from Trump but isn't self-quarantining in the wake of an aide's positive test for COVID-19, CNN reports.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

May 12 2020 12:06 PM EST

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Mike Pence keeping his distance from Donald Trump now that Pence's press secretary has tested positive for COVID-19, but in general the vice president isn't being as careful as even his own administration recommends.

Pence is "maintaining distance" from the president "for the immediate future," a source described as "a senior administration official" told CNN. The official did not say how long "the immediate future" would be.

Katie Miller, Pence's press secretary and the wife of White House adviser Stephen Miller, tested positive for the virus Friday. Pence did not attend Trump's Monday press conference, and Trump said he had not seen the vice president since Katie Miller's positive test, CNN reports. Pence took a call with governors Monday in a separate room from Dr. Deborah Birx and staff members.

But while Pence is avoiding Trump and some other officials, mostly he's "merely taking half-measures that fall short of the administration's own guidelines," according to CNN's Jeremy Diamond and Kevin Liptak. The reason, they say, is that Trump and Pence want to send a message that the viral outbreak is under control and the nation is ready to reopen for business.

Pence has appeared at the White House without a mask, just as he did at the Mayo Clinic recently, despite the clinic's policy that all patients, visitors, and staffers wear masks. And the administration's guidelines state that someone who has had close contact with anyone who's tested positive for the virus should self-isolate for two weeks, which Pence is not doing.