Speculation erupts over cancellation of Pence’s New Hampshire trip
WASHINGTON — What prompted the last-minute cancellation of Vice President Mike Pence’s trip to New Hampshire on Tuesday?
That was the inside-the-beltway parlor game of the day after Fox News reported early in the day that Pence has been “suddenly called back” to Washington after departing for a meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire, where he was supposed to meet with patients and graduates of the Granite Recovery Center. The network added that Air Force Two had been “suddenly diverted.”
But Pence’s press secretary, Alyssa Farah, later posted on Twitter that Pence never left Washington.
“There was no ‘emergency callback.’ Something came up that required the VP to stay in DC,” she said.
The @VP never left Washington, DC. There was no “emergency callback.” Something came up that required the VP to stay in DC. We’ll reschedule NH shortly. https://t.co/h270JCEUIG
— Alyssa Farah (@VPPressSec) July 2, 2019
White House chief deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley echoed that in comments to the Review-Journal, saying, “Something came up that required Pence to stay in D.C. There is no cause for concern.”
Pence had no public events on his schedule for Saturday.
Other administration officials offered assurances on background that the cancellation had nothing to do with the president’s health, Pence’s health or national security.
If the cancellation had no urgent reason, why not end the speculation with a definitive explanation? Ditto news that Pence was in the White House as the press corps was hotly pursuing the mystery.
The official response was guaranteed to leave the press corps nosing around trying to find the real reason for the cancellation and running after White House aides with questions that went unanswered.
As for POTUS, he was a restrained presence on Twitter. He didn’t even seize the moment Tuesday afternoon to tweet about #FakeNews.
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal.com or at 202-662-7391. Follow @DebraJSaunders on Twitter.
