Coronavirus fears and Pence
Al Grabo for the New York Times
We ran the numbers: There are 2794 news articles covering this topic. 45% (1271) are left leaning, 41% (1155) center, 13% (368) right leaning.
On Wednesday, President Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence to oversee the government effort to contain the coronavirus. While left-leaning articles highlight the White House’s contradictory responses to the coronavirus, right-leaning articles condemn Democrats for criticizing the White House’s response.
A left-leaning article by The New York Times highlights that the day the White House sought to tighten control of coronavirus messaging by government health officials and scientists, President Trump used an evening event honoring African-American History Month to claim that the news media is overstating the threat of corona. The attempt to demonstrate a unified administration voice was also undercut earlier that day, when Pence said he selected Dr. Deborah L. Birx, the director of the United States effort to combat H.I.V. and AIDS, to serve as a coronavirus response coordinator for the White House.
NPR published a centrist article reporting that Pence’s public health record is coming under harsh scrutiny, as he has no medical experience. During Pence’s time as governor, one of Indiana’s poorest counties was hit hard with an HIV outbreak, and Pence was delayed in his response as he was morally opposed to the state providing clean needles to drug users.
New York Post published a right-leaning article highlighting that President Trump ripped House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over their criticism of his response to the coronavirus threat. A right-leaning opinion article by Fox News reports that the Democrats reached a new low by hoping that the coronavirus will undermine Trump’s presidency.