PITTSBURGH _ In a trip to Western Pennsylvania on Friday that included a speech to manufacturing workers and a discussion with faith leaders, Vice President Mike Pence insisted the U.S. economy is rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic _ a "great American comeback," he said, that's been propped up by three and a half years of Donald Trump's economic policies.
Pence's message touched, too, on the socioeconomic fault lines that have erupted in recent weeks over the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis _ a "tragedy," Pence said, that "shocked the conscience of a nation" but which doesn't demand the defunding of police departments.
A centerpiece of America's comeback, Pence said, is "law and order," but the vice president also called for action addressing "the historic, underlying inequities that have beset minority communities _ and particularly the African American community _ for generations" in major cities.
Pence said law enforcement deserves respect, and that addressing injustices will include raising the standards in the police profession, particularly in regards to the use of force and deescalation.
"There is no excuse for what happened to George Floyd," Pence said during a discussion with black faith and community leaders at the Covenant Church of Pittsburgh in Wilkinsburg. "President Trump has made it clear that justice will be served."
But, Pence added, "I know I speak for people across this country when I say there's also no excuse for the violence, the rioting and the looting that took place here in the Pittsburgh area and all across the country."
Pence's visit to Western Pennsylvania was a guest spot on America First Policies' "Great American Comeback Tour," billed as a nationwide policy advocacy series _ conservative in nature and mimicking much of Trump's platform _ on ideas ranging from negotiating new trade agreements to cutting the payroll tax.
The vice president started the day participating in a discussion about racial inequality, criminal justice reform and law enforcement with faith leaders and Sen. Pat Toomey, who accompanied Pence to Pittsburgh on Air Force Two.
The church's senior pastor, Bishop Joseph Garlington Sr., thanked Pence for "standing up for the church for a long, long time," and said his worshipers hadn't felt they had a voice in the administration until Pence and Trump took office.
Kicking off a mostly philosophical and faith-based conversation, the bishop said that although they're seeing "answers' to their prayers, there must be more reconciliation to heal the divided society.
"Our nation needs blessing, we need caring, we need to hear our leadership say, 'We love you and we know you're hurting,'" Garlington said.
Pence said he attended to gain insight into how to "continue to move our nation forward" in the aftermath of Floyd's death, and insisted the administration is working to equip law enforcement with more tools and training.
But as much as his remarks were forward thinking, they were also complimentary of the Trump administration's efforts so far to address inequality. He cited record low black unemployment, opportunity zones that have attracted investment into communities and the administration's commitment to expanding school choice.
Asked by Pence how leaders could unify the nation in ways the church has in the past, Garlington said he'd like to hear people say that "black lives matter" without following the phrase with a qualifier.
"When policemen do bad things in our nation, there are many people who are quick to say, 'but that's a small percentage (of officers),'" Garlington said. "But my experience living in this nation is that that small percentage is all over America."
After the church panel, Pence stopped for lunch at David's Diner in Springdale, greeted by 17th Congressional District candidate Sean Parnell, then went to Oberg Industries in Sarver to tour its precision manufacturing center _ where surgical knee replacement instruments are made, among other things _ before giving a speech to workers.
Pence remarked that every state in America has begun to reopen again, and that small businesses are able to build on the "strong foundation this president laid the last three years that saw the creation of more than 7 million jobs" following the administration's tax cuts and regulation rollbacks.
It's "just the beginning," he said, and as more small businesses reopen, the employment numbers will improve on a resurgent May.
Pence praised Trump for acting early to battle the pandemic, pointing to his suspension of all travel from China in late January.
Kate Bedingfield, deputy campaign manager for former Vice President Joe Biden's Democratic presidential campaign, said there wouldn't be a need for a "Great American Comeback Tour" _ or a comeback, for that matter _ if the administration had not "bungled" its response to the coronavirus, and said that it's not time for a "victory lap" when people are still dying, unemployment levels persist and there hasn't been a nationwide system of "widespread testing."
"The facts are that thousands of Pennsylvanians have died from the coronavirus, millions of Pennsylvanians have had to file for unemployment, and countless families are immeasurably devastated by the impact of this pandemic _ an impact that could have been severely blunted if the Trump-Pence administration had acted earlier," Bedingfield said in a statement.
Pence said testing has expanded "across the board," from 8,000 tests at the end of February to more than 22 million tests as of Friday morning.
