Secret Service Agents Fell Ill Before Pence Trip

VP delayed, scaled back Arizona visit
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 3, 2020 6:15 AM CDT
Updated Jul 3, 2020 6:53 AM CDT
VP Delayed Trip After Secret Service Agents Tested Positive
Vice President Mike Pence walks with Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, right, after their meeting to discuss the surge in coronavirus cases in Arizona Wednesday, July 1, 2020, in Phoenix.   (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Vice President Mike Pence, who had been scheduled to visit Arizona for a "Faith in America" campaign rally in Tucson and a tour of Yuma with Gov. Doug Ducey Tuesday, ended up making a much shorter visit to the state Wednesday. Sources tell the Washington Post that Pence postponed and scaled back the visit after at least one of the Secret Service agents preparing for the trip tested positive for COVID-19 and others showed symptoms. An official tells ABC that the trip was delayed so the Secret Service could bring in a new team of healthy agents. Arizona has reported record numbers of coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations, and new infections this week.

An official tells the Post that up to 10 Secret Service agents and other officers preparing for Pence's visit ended up falling ill. Pence held a public health briefing with Ducey at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix Wednesday, where he promised that "help is on the way," the New York Times reports. He did not leave the airport during the 2.5-hour visit. A Pence spokesperson declined to discuss why the trip was delayed, but chided the Post for "choosing to use its pages to report on a story of little use to everyday Americans attempting to learn more about how coronavirus affects them." (At least eight members of President Trump's Tulsa rally team tested positive for the coronavirus.)

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