Vice President Mike Pence Plans To Oversee Trump’s Loss, Then Leave Town

Vice President Mike Pence is planning a foreign trip that would take him overseas for nearly a week, starting on January 6 – just a day after he will preside over the U.S. Senate finalizing the presidential election results.

Although the details of the trip are yet to be confirmed, a U.S. government document shows the Vice President is due to travel to Bahrain, Israel and Poland, with the possibility of more stops being added. This would be Pence’s first trip abroad since last January when he briefly traveled to Rome and Jerusalem for two consecutive days.

Pence has made efforts to keep out of the spotlight during Trump’s requests to investigate the election results. Traveling outside of the United States is also a way to boost his credentials with the Christian right, which strongly supports Israel. As of last week, Israeli officials were considering new coronavirus-related restrictions to reverse growing outbreaks.

The U.S. has faced a similar coronavirus outbreak since late fall, as colder temperatures rose and indoor activities increased.

The worsening conditions have created an increased workload for Pence since the election on November 3. While Trump has kept his focus on trying to prove fraudulent results, Pence has hosted calls with state and local leaders, toured vaccine production facilities and continued to work with the relevant agencies involved in the pandemic response.

On Monday, Pence held a conference call with the nation’s governors to discuss the distribution of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine and the approval of a second vaccine from Moderna by the FDA later this week.

“Be confident that we have cut red tape, but we’ve cut no corners when it comes to the development of this vaccine,” Pence said Tuesday at a vaccine production center in Bloomington, Ind. “I look forward, in the days ahead, to receiving the vaccine myself and do so without hesitation.”