President Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Vice President Mike Pence _ who has absolutely no medical experience _ to lead the U.S. response to the coronavirus amid mounting concerns that the administration isn't doing enough to combat the burgeoning epidemic.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump sought to downplay the severity of the rapidly spreading virus and said he appointed Pence because he's "very good on health care," apparently railroading Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who has spearheaded the coronavirus task force so far.
"He is really an expert in the field," Trump said of Pence, who was standing next to him in the White House press room. "Mike will be working with the professionals, doctors and everybody else ... Mike is going to be in charge and Mike will report back to me, but he has a certain talent for this."
The president added, "We're very, very ready for this, for anything."
Pence, who has spent his entire professional career in politics and law, hauled praise on Trump's coronavirus response, even though members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have questioned the administration's commitment to spending enough federal resources on the respiratory illness.
"I look forward, Mr. President, to serving in this role, bringing together all the coronavirus task force that you have established," the vice president said.
More than 81,000 cases of COVID-19 disease have been diagnosed worldwide since first emerging in China. Nearly 3,000 people have died and the respiratory virus has now been reported on all continents except Antarctica.
At least 60 cases have been confirmed in the U.S., and federal health officials are warning it's a near certainty that the virus will begin to spread at a faster rate in short order.
Even as Trump spoke, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that a person in California had tested positive for the virus despite not being in contact with anyone with the illness, potentially making it the first case of community spread.
Earlier this week, Trump rolled out a request for $2.5 billion in federal coronavirus emergency funds.
Trump backed off the modest request Wednesday and said he's ready to spend "whatever is appropriate," seemingly caving to bipartisan demands for more money.
Still, Trump sought to minimize fears of the virus, which has set the stock market tumbling in recent days.
"Hopefully, we won't have to spend so much because we really think that we've done a great job in keeping it down to a minimum," Trump said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., unveiled an $8.5 billion coronavirus emergency package earlier Wednesday and blasted the Trump administration's response so far as "incompetent and dangerous."
The president punched back by accusing Democrats of "trying to create a panic."
While Trump and Pence offered a rosy assessment of the administration's coronavirus response, Dr. Anne Schuchat, the principal deputy director of the CDC, struck a more sober tone.
"This has been a difficult and challenging time," Schuchat said, standing next to Trump. "Our aggressive containment strategy here in the United States has been working, and it is responsible for the low levels of cases that we have so far. However, we do expect more cases, and this is a good time to prepare."
Before Trump's White House briefing, Azar, then still overseeing the task force, drew outrage from Democrats after he said in a congressional hearing that he couldn't promise that a vaccine for the coronavirus would be affordable once developed.
"We would want to ensure that we work to make it affordable, but we can't control that price, because we need the private sector to invest. Price controls won't get us there," Azar said.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., blasted Azar's comments as "disgusting."
Details on Pence's role as the new coronavirus czar were not immediately known, but Trump promised that he would do a "brilliant" job.
In 2014, Trump ripped into former President Barack Obama for appointing longtime adviser Ron Klain to oversee that administration's response to the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
"Obama just appointed an Ebola Czar with zero experience in the medical area and zero experience in infectious disease control," Trump tweeted at the time. "A TOTAL JOKE!"
