Karen Pence says VP didn’t know about mask policy during clinic visit

Karen Pence, the wife of Vice-President Mike Pence, says that her husband was unaware of the Mayo Clinic policy requiring all visitors to wear a face covering.

The vice president visited the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday where everyone in his entourage was wearing a mask, while he was not.

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“As our medical experts have told us wearing a mask prevents you from spreading the disease. And knowing he doesn’t have COVID-19, he didn’t wear one,” Pence said on Fox & Friends. The Second Lady said that the vice president learned about the policy after leaving the facility.

On Tuesday, the clinic tweeted, then deleted, a message that said that it informed Pence of the mask policy prior to his arrival.

In a statement, the clinic asserted that “Mayo shared the masking policy with the VP’s office.”

On April 13, the Mayo Clinic issued guidance requiring all patients and visitors to wear a face-covering or mask in accordance with updated recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The clinic said it would provide masks for those who did not bring their own.

“As Vice President of the United States I’m tested for the coronavirus on a regular basis, and everyone who is around me is tested for the coronavirus,” Pence told reporters traveling with him after the visit on Tuesday.

“And since I don’t have the coronavirus, I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to be here, to be able to speak to these researchers, these incredible health care personnel, and look them in the eye and say thank you,” he added.

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His account is contradicted by Mrs. Pence who claims that the vice president was unaware of the policy. In her interview with Fox & Friends, she stated that the vice president didn’t mean to offend anyone by flouting the mask policy.

The vice president was at the Mayo Clinic to learn more about convalescent plasma therapy. The program involves using donated plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19, to treat people who currently have the virus.

“It may help patients recover more rapidly,” Mayo believes.