Reporters burst into screams after Vice President Mike Pence walked out of a coronavirus task force briefing Thursday without taking any questions.
Leading the first coronavirus task force briefing since July, Pence thanked reporters and walked off stage after an almost 90-minute briefing. Reporters immediately began shouting questions as Pence left the room, according to videos posted to Twitter.
Listen to the reporters scream at Pence when he leaves without taking questions: pic.twitter.com/GfAgM6eoSu
— The Recount (@therecount) November 19, 2020
“Why is the federal government not taking questions?” one reporter can be heard saying in the video.
Another reporter in the front row of the briefing stood up and appeared to throw his hands up in the air while someone said “what is going on?”
.@VP left immediately after making closing remarks without taking a single question. Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx paused and looked like they wanted to engage with reporters, but ultimately followed Pence back to West Wing.
— Weijia Jiang (@weijia) November 19, 2020
As the gaggle of reporters continued to question Pence’s walkout, one reporter could be heard asking, “how can you not take questions?”
As the video ended, someone brought up the election, screaming “you’re all undermining the democratic election!”
During the briefing, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Pfizer will file for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its coronavirus vaccine Friday.
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Pence said once the vaccine is approved by the FDA, it will be shipped out immediately. (RELATED: Jake Tapper Calls Coronavirus Vaccines An ‘Unmitigated Success’ For Trump Administration)
“We have a plan in place, that the moment the FDA concludes that that vaccine is safe and effective, we have a system in place to begin within 24 hours shipping that vaccine to hospitals, healthcare facilities and 24 hours after that literally injecting that vaccine into Americans,” he said.
Pence: “We have a plan in place that the moment the FDA concludes that that vaccine is safe and effective, we have a system in place to begin within 24 hours shipping that vaccine …” pic.twitter.com/9gB9RohaDR
— The Recount (@therecount) November 19, 2020
The news comes a day after the U.S. reported more than 250,000 coronavirus deaths, according to statistics from Johns Hopkins University.
