Vice President Mike Pence torched after jokingly asking to carry empty boxes at nursing home ‘just for the camera’

ABC late night show host Jimmy Kimmel unloaded on Pence for even making the empty offer, which the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” star featured on his show Thursday night.

“Mike Pence pretending to carry empty boxes of PPEs into a hospital is the perfect metaphor for who he is and what he’s doing: A big box of nothing, delivering another box of nothing,” Kimmel cracked.

Kimmel later Friday posted a backhanded apology to Pence on Twitter, writing, “It would appear that @vp was joking about carrying empty boxes for a staged publicity stunt.”

“The full video reveals that he was carrying full boxes for a staged publicity stunt. My apologies. I know how dearly this administration values truth,” Kimmel wote.

A spokesman for the Democratic presidential campaign of Biden ripped Pence for the comment in a scathing Twitter post.

“No, Mike Pence, the health care heroes on the frontlines don’t need you to carry the empty boxes ‘just for the camera,'” wrote the spokesman, Matt Hill.

“There are more than 75,000 Americans dead, so they don’t need your jokes — they need the personal protective equipment that is going to save lives.

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-New Jersey, tweeted, “You would be hardpressed to find a better metaphor for the comically malicious incompetence of this failed government.”

A spokeswoman for the vice president did not immediately respond to a request from CNBC for comment on the video.

Pence’s photo op came as nursing homes have been desperately asking for PPE from the federal government.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/08/coronavirus-mike-pence-offers-to-carry-empty-boxes-at-nursing-home.html