Jan 07, 2021 — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 7, 2021 The news comes following reports that Republicans are plotting to remove Trump as president. Cabinet secretaries and senior GOP members reportedly want to invoke the 25th Amendment and put Vice President Mike Pence in charge just two weeks before the end of Trump's term. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) traded barbs on Twitter Thursday over the government’s handling of the deadly coronavirus. AOC took issue with President Trump appointing Vice President Mike Pence to lead the response to the Chinese virus. The media can make you stupid and we’re working hard to be an antidote. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) responded Wednesday night to a reference to her nickname by Vice President Pence during the vice presidential debate.' For the record @MikePence, it's. Jan 03, 2021 A federal appeals court on Saturday rejected a Republican congressman’s bid to allow Vice President Mike Pence to overturn President-elect Joe Biden’s Nov. 3 election victory in favor of. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did not take kindly to Vice President Mike Pence referencing her and her famous moniker during Wednesday night’s vice president.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) criticized Vice President Pence hours after President Trump said he would be putting him in charge of the administration's response to the spread of the new coronavirus known as COVID-19.
'Mike Pence literally does not believe in science,' she tweeted on Wednesday night. 'It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic. This decision could cost people their lives. Pence's past decisions already have.'
She also took aim at Pence's handling of an HIV outbreak in Indiana during his time as governor of the state in another tweet, saying: 'As governor, Pence's science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana's history.'
© Greg Nash Ocasio-Cortez knocks Pence: 'Utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response''He is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert. He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health,' she continued.
As governor, Pence's science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana's history.
He is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert. He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health.
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 27, 2020According to The Washington Post, one of the most severe HIV outbreaks to ever occur in Indiana happened in 2015, during his time as a governor. At the time, Pence was reportedly met with criticism for his handling of the spread.
A number of Democratic lawmakers made similar comments knocking Trump's decision to name Pence the head of the government's coronavirus response on Twitter.
The only qualification @VP Mike Pence has is as supreme Donald Trump kiss-ass. It is frightening that this science denying knuckle-dragger is now in charge of our nation's response to the #coronavirus. https://t.co/KWroz711jB
- US Rep Brendan Boyle (@RepBrendanBoyle) February 27, 2020Mike Pence is not an upgrade.
Putting a guy in charge of a deadly major pandemic who doesn't believe in science and thinks smoking doesn't cause cancer is...well...NOT A GREAT IDEA.
Radical idea: put someone qualified in charge. Take this seriously.
- Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) February 27, 2020Mike Pence is for conversion therapy. Mike Pence said smoking didn't cause cancer. Mike Pence doesn't believe climate science. Mike Pence questioned whether or not condoms worked. So,
- Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) February 26, 2020Unfortunately, I have about as much confidence in Mike Pence leading us out of this crisis as Kellyanne Conway earned when she was tasked with leading us out of the opioid crisis.#CoronavirusOutbreak#coronavirususahttps://t.co/n24xELMA5y
This is our coronavirus czar. https://t.co/CfrjmogrEn
- Rep. Ted Deutch (@RepTedDeutch) February 27, 2020Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have been putting pressure on the Trump administration to step up its efforts to prevent an outbreak of the new coronavirus - which has been reported in more than 80,000 cases worldwide - from happening in the U.S.
However, Trump has downplayed concerns about the coronavirus, saying that while his administration is 'ready to adapt if we have to' as more cases are reported in the country, he doesn't believe an outbreak is 'inevitable' as other officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez late Wednesday condemned President Donald Trump's decision to put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of the administration's coronavirus response as an 'utterly irresponsible' move that could have deadly consequences.
'It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint.'
—Gregg Gonsalves, Yale
'Mike Pence literally does not believe in science,' tweeted Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat. 'It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of U.S. coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic. This decision could cost people their lives. Pence's past decisions already have.'
Ocasio-Cortez pointed to Pence's tenure as Indiana governor, where he she said his 'science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana's history.'
'He is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert,' Ocasio-Cortez wrote. 'He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health.'
Mike Pence literally does not believe in science.
It is utterly irresponsible to put him in charge of US coronavirus response as the world sits on the cusp of a pandemic.
This decision could cost people their lives. Pence’s past decisions already have. https://t.co/NhMPOusOWm
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 27, 2020
As governor, Pence’s science denial contributed to one of the worst HIV outbreaks in Indiana’s history.
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He is not a medical doctor. He is not a health expert. He is not qualified nor positioned in any way to protect our public health.
https://t.co/1jVY44p2HF
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) February 27, 2020
The Verge reported following Trump's announcement Wednesday that as governor of Indiana, Pence 'slashed public health spending and delayed the introduction of needle exchanges, which led to the state's worst outbreak of HIV.'
Gregg Gonsalves—a Yale epidemiologist who co-authored a 2018 paper connecting Pence's policy decisions as governor to the 2014 HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana—denounced the president's decision to allow Pence to coordinate the administration's coronavirus response.
'Over 200 people were infected with HIV in an outbreak, met with ignorance, bumbling, incompetence, and ideological intransigence. Two hundred needlessly infected, now on medication for life at great costs to themselves and the state,' Gonsalves tweeted Thursday morning. 'Now Donald Trump has put Mike Pence in charge of coronavirus.'
'It's like putting an arsonist in charge of the fire department, a bank robber in charge of the U.S. Mint,' Gonsalves added. 'Donald Trump made the choice of putting someone absolutely not up to the task to this crucial position. It endangers us all. This isn't a Republican or Democratic issue—we have the potential for coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. and we needed to rise above the partisan fray.'