You’ve likely heard by now that Vice President Mike Pence is heading up Donald Trump’s Coronavirus Task Force and it’s kinda sorta already a total disaster.
Not only is the group made up of almost entirely white men (and one white female), but only two of them have medical degrees, and hardly any of them are public health/public policy experts.
With those sorts of credentials, it makes perfect sense that they’ve decided to use prayer as a key method for combating the highly contagious virus currently spreading across the country that has already killed six Americans.
A photo of Pence’s “pray the coronavirus away” group prayer sesh began circulating on social media late last week.
Mike Pence and his coronavirus emergency team praying for a solution. We are so screwed. pic.twitter.com/p020FBIK9J
— Thomas Chatterton Williams ? ? (@thomaschattwill) March 1, 2020
Of course, this isn’t the first time Pence has opted to use prayer in response to complex issues he knows absolutely nothing about.
When Indiana was facing a massive HIV outbreak between 2011 and 2015, then-Governor Pence chose to “pray on it” rather than follow the advice of health officials and introduce a needle exchange to limit its spread.
Pence is also a longtime proponent of “pray the gay away” conversion therapy and once advocated for the use of federal funding to treat people “seeking to change their sexual behavior.”
Twitter responded to the Vice President’s “pray the coronavirus away” photo opp with horror and ridicule:
Mike 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, 2020
THIS IS NOT PHOTOSHOP.
THIS IS NOT SATIRE.
THIS IS NOT FAKE NEWS.
THIS IS VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE AND WHITEHOUSE STAFF PRAYING THE CORONAVIRUS AWAY! pic.twitter.com/qmi6ufCIrq
— Brutum Fulmen Is Private? (@BrutumF) March 2, 2020
How long will it be until Mike Pence announces you can avoid catching the Coronavirus by praying…
— Stu Cameron (@stucam7771) February 27, 2020
Of course Mike Pence’s response to the coronavirus is to pray it away. I wonder if they’re praying the gay away at the same time or if that’s a different meeting. pic.twitter.com/feZRobt0gm
— great scott! ?? (@GreatScott1991) March 1, 2020
You better start praying harder @VP @Mike_Pence
— Cap’n Rod ??? (@J_Baker_69) March 2, 2020
Mike Pence “praying”? with the Coronavirus team. Team includes guy wiping his nose with his bare hand. ? #TrumpVirus pic.twitter.com/F0aPKbjtB0
— Jason (@oelbrenner) March 1, 2020
No worries everyone. @realDonaldTrump had us covered. We have @Mike_Pence forming prayer groups around the country to combat the Coronavirus! They'll be adding it in between praying the gay away and thanking God for the current climate.#coronavirusus
— Daniel (@Unpack_Ur_BS) February 29, 2020
Meanwhile, Donald Trump called the whole Coronavirus thing a “hoax” being engineered by “fear mongering” Democrats. His eldest son, Don Jr., took it one step further by saying Democrats hope “millions” of Americans die so his father doesn’t get reelected.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
I sometimes look at this inane insanity and hope I am looking at a facetious parody from The Onion.
Only to sadly realize once again this is our terrifying ignorant unbelievable odorous reality emanating from the White House is America 2020. 🙁
scotty
if you could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people.