Vice President Mike Pence said over the weekend that it is "understandable" that President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., would say that Democrats want millions of Americans to die of the coronavirus.
In an interview that aired on Sunday, CNN's Jake Tapper asked Pence about the remarks made by the son of the president several days earlier.
"For them to try to take a pandemic and seemingly hope that it comes here and kills millions of people so that they can end Donald Trump's streak of winning is a new level of sickness," Pence told Fox News on Friday.
"Can we agree that neither Democrats or Republicans wants Americans to get the coronavirus and die?" Tapper asked the vice president. "You don't think Democrats want people to contract the coronavirus and die?"
Pence declined to directly answer the question.
"This is no time for politics," the vice president said. "And, frankly, I think that was Don Jr.'s point. That there has been some very strong rhetoric directed at the president by some members of Congress."
"You don't think that was strong rhetoric [from Donald Trump Jr.]?" Tapper pressed.
"But responding to the kind of things that have been hurled is understandable," Pence replied, before arguing that the Trump administration has "set the politics aside."
"I continue to believe that we have an opportunity to come together," he added. "And with the proper expertise, and the proper resources and the prayers of millions of Americans, we're going to get through this."
Ed. Note: :Pence thought prayer would take care of the HIV epidemic in his state while he was governor, too.
