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Vice President Mike Pence, the leader of the administration's coronavirus task force, is publicly painting a rosy picture of the pandemic through his words and actions amid President Donald Trump's push to reopen the country and resume campaigning. But despite the administration's efforts to declare the pandemic over, 18 states are currently experiencing an increase in cases. And health officials have implored Americans to heed task force guidelines -- including wearing a mask and social distancing -- to slow the spread, and a key model used by the White House is now projecting more than 200,000 deaths by October. (Klein, 6/16)

Vice President Pence on Tuesday blamed the media for stoking concerns of a "second wave" of coronavirus in the United States, insisting in an op-ed that the Trump administration's response has been successful even as infections are climbing in several states. The vice president, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, wrote in The Wall Street Journal that panic over a rebound in coronavirus cases is "overblown" while touting the administration's handling of the pandemic. (Samuels, 6/16)

President Trump and Vice President Pence, aided by GOP governors, argue the surge is due to increased testing. “If we stop testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any,” Trump, who has been eager to open up the country given the calamitous effects that coronavirus-fueled lockdowns have had on the economy, said on Monday. (Weixel, 6/16)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) blasted Vice President Pence on Tuesday evening after he played down fears of a "second wave" of the novel coronavirus, calling his remarks “pathetic” and “reckless.” “So that’s it, @VP Pence? You’re just going to close your eyes, plug your ears, & pat yourself on the back for the public health catastrophe under your watch? This is as pathetic as it is reckless,” Warren tweeted. (Budryk, 6/16)