Pence: College athletic association talks included requests for elderly alumni to skip events

Vice President Pence on Tuesday said that talks with college athletic associations about possibly reopening events involved the possibility of requesting that elderly alumni skip sporting events. 

Pence told “The Hugh Hewitt Show” that he participated in conversations with commissioners of major university and college athletic associations “not long ago” regarding potential guidelines recommending older individuals avoid these events.

“We talked about that they might consider asking some of the elderly alumni to consider taking a pass on some sporting events should they restart in the summer or in the fall,” Pence told Hewitt on his Tuesday show.

“But … we would leave those decisions to businesses, to state governors, to what we would determine to be most appropriate,” he added.

Hewitt had asked Pence if the administration planned to issue “age discrimination” guidelines recommending certain age groups avoid things like flights. 

“I think the guidance that we’ve issued at this point in terms of the president’s guidelines to open up America again are intended to create a framework for a safe and responsible reopening,” he said. 

The coronavirus has been known to have more severe effects on individuals who are older or suffer from existing medical conditions, experts have said. 

Pence praised the 41 states that had announced plans to reopen and said the number of fatalities has declined consistently over the past six days.

“We’ve made great progress,” the vice president said. “We’ve slowed the spread. Most importantly, we saved lives, Hugh, and that’s a tribute. That’s a tribute to the American people.”

The Associated Press reported its analysis Tuesday that the number of new deaths in the U.S. has decreased in recent weeks, but if the New York metro area is left out of the overall count, the number of deaths have plateaued nationwide.

Leaving out New York City also led the AP to conclude the nation’s infection rate was increasing.