On February 26, 2020, Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence as leader of the federal government’s task force on COVID-19. At the time, the United States reported a total of 58 cases. One month later, the US reported a total of over 100,000.

Pence drew criticism when he toured the Mayo Clinic on April 28 without a mask, noticeably being the only one present without one. By then, the US reported over 1 million total cases.

Pence, former governor of Indiana, has a controversial past regarding his record on public health and science:

Smoking

In 2000, Pence claimed in an op-ed about smoking,

Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill.

The CDC considers smoking the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.

Rush Limbaugh, who has made similar claims about smoking, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Trump in 2020.

AIDS

Amid an AIDS outbreak in his state, after a 2015 meeting with officials from the Indiana State Department of Health and the CDC, Pence said he would “go home and pray on it.” A few days later, Pence allowed for the opening of an HIV testing clinic and a non-state funded needle exchange program. However, on the same day, he signed a bill into law that increased criminal punishment for possession of syringes without a prescription, even if unused. Within two years, 217 AIDS cases had been attributed to the outbreak. Critics claimed that Pence’s long-held attempts to close down Planned Parenthood, a leading HIV testing resource in the state, helped lead to the outbreak in the first place.

As a result of the outbreak, former CDC director Dr. Tom Frieden said that Austin, Indiana had a higher incidence of HIV than “any country in sub-Saharan Africa,” and “more people infected with HIV through injection drug use than in all of New York City last year.”

In a 2002 interview with Wolf Blitzer, Pence claimed about condoms and their ability to prevent the spread of disease,

I just simply believe the only truly safe sex, Wolf, as the president believes, is no sex…The problem is it was too modern of an answer, Wolf. It was — it truly was a modern, liberal answer to a problem that parents like me are facing all over America, and frankly, all over the world.

The head of the CDC at the time of the COVID19 pandemic has also claimed that AIDS reflects god’s judgement.

Conversion Therapy

Pence’s website in which he published his views on smoking also espoused support for conversation therapy. In writing about the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, Pence’s site stated,

Congress should support the reauthorization of the Ryan White Care Act only after completion of an audit to ensure that federal dollars were no longer being given to organizations that celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus. Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.

While Pence has also called being gay a “choice” and “learned behavior,” there is no known evidence of his otherwise specifically voicing support for conversion therapy.

Climate Change

Pence has repeatedly deflected questions on his beliefs regarding climate change.

Trump has referred to climate change as a “Chinese hoax,” while his administration has rolled back protections on endangered species, offshore drilling, coal pollution, and fuel economy standards.

Evolution

Pence has long criticized evolution, espousing a flawed understanding of what constitutes a scientific theory. In 2002, he gave a speech to the House of Representatives, where he demanded that evolution be taught alongside religious alternatives:

Charles Darwin did offer a theory on the origin of species, which we’ve come to know as evolution. Charles Darwin never thought of evolution as anything other than a theory. He hoped that some day it would be proven by the fossil record, but did not live to see that, nor have we.
…let us demand that educators around America teach evolution not as fact, but as theory.

He has also avoided directly answering the question of whether he believes in evolution in later interviews.

Politico – Trump puts Pence in charge of coronavirus response
Politico – Pence flouts hospital policy, goes maskless in Mayo Clinic visit
CBS News – Mike Pence said smoking “doesn’t kill” and faced criticism for his response to HIV. Now he’s leading the coronavirus response
CDC.gov – Smoking & Tobacco Use
Politico – How Mike Pence Made Indiana’s HIV Outbreak Worse
Courier Journal – What we know about Austin, Indiana’s struggles with drugs and HIV
Snopes – Did Mike Pence Say ‘Condoms Are Too Modern and Liberal’?
CNN – CNN WOLF BLITZER REPORTS Transcript, Aired February 15, 2002
Business Insider – Mike Pence said in the 1990s that being gay was ‘a choice’ or a ‘learned behavior,’ but the White House says he isn’t ‘anti-gay’
Newsweek – FROM ‘SMOKING DOESN’T KILL’ TO CONVERSION THERAPY—MIKE PENCE’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL SCIENCE REMARKS
WebArchives.org – Mike Pence for Congress
Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

Dr. Robert Redfield, appointed to head the Center for Disease Control in 2018, had a long and controversial history with his approach to AIDS.

During his tenure as a Major at the Walter Reed Medical Institute, Dr. Redfield was one of the architects of Army policy regarding AIDS. It included mandatory testing with no confidentiality, and those that tested positive were quarantined, faced various administrative punishments, or were dishonorably discharged. Redfield explained, “The reason we have done what we have done is that we think it’s good medicine – and it’s medicine that might work in the civilian sector, as well.” He was a proponent of H.R. 2788 that sought to allow HIV testing without consent and force states to have doctors report the names of positive cases.

Redfield wrote an introduction to the book Christians in the Age of AIDS, which read:

It is time to reject the temptation of denial of the AIDS/HIV crisis; to reject false prophets who preach the quick-fix strategies of condoms and free needles; to reject those who preach prejudice; and to reject those who try to replace God as judge.

He also regularly denounced use of condoms and needle exchange programs to prevent its spread throughout his career. The CDC says that proper use of condoms can reduce risk of HIV transmission.

Upon taking office, Redfield claimed that his views had since changed.

Redfield’s predecessor, Brenda Fitzgerald, was appointed by Trump in 2017 and resigned after a report of conflicts of interests involving her investments, including various tobacco stocks.

Vice President Mike Pence, leader of the COVID-19 task force, also has a controversial record with public health and science.

Foreign Policy – Meet Trump’s New, Homophobic Public Health Quack
CNN – Why Trump’s new CDC director is an abysmal choice
AP News – Health official who urged abstinence says views have changed
Congress.gov – H.R.2788 – Kimberly Bergalis Patient and Health Provider Protection Act of 1991
Center for Disease Control – Condom Effectiveness
The New York Times – Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, C.D.C. Director, Resigns Over Tobacco and Other Investments