MSNBC anchor hammers Pence chief of staff for dodging questions about whether RNC exposed veterans to COVID-19

MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson got into it with Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, in an interview Thursday morning over whether the setting of his speech was safe for those who attended.

Short tried to make it about Pence fist-bumping a wounded warrior, who along with elderly veterans were unnecessarily exposed to the virus because the Republican Party didn't test or clear the crowd of people before bringing them into the event site.

The crowd, Short said, was "given guidance, their seating was socially distanced, and gave guidance on masks and also some other measures, temperature checks taken beforehand but you know, Hallie, I do think because the vice president gave such a strong speech and laid out such a stark difference it's no surprise the media wants to focus on mask shaming this morning."

Many online couldn't help but notice that Pence's speech was boring and complained that it went on too long and past the 11 p.m. hour when he was supposed to stop speaking.

"Marc, no, you're misunderstanding me. It's not mask shaming. Wait a second," Jackson said as Short talked over her. "That is not fair."

"Let me answer the question, Hallie," Short said, trying to continue lying about the facts. "The person in the vice president that the president and vice president -- "

"You're not answering the question," Jackson shot back.

"--Fist bumped is a wounded warrior who served our country and is a hero and if he puts his hand out to ask for a fist bump I don't think it's surprising the vice president is going to do that," said Short.

"I don't think anybody has an issue with that," said Jackson. "The question is were the people in those front rows or in the entire audience COVID tested. It's not a tough question."

Short's claim that the event was set up for social distancing, but when the president took to the rope-line, it caused people to crowd together toward them, putting the elderly people in the crowd at a greater danger for contracting the virus.

Short continued to dodge the issue, but more questions are likely to come up if COVID-19 cases break out among any of the audience members.

Short then went on to falsely claim that former Vice President Joe Biden wanted to defund the police. When he was faced with a fact-check he filibustered the host before claiming that he was thankful she agreed with him. Jackson cut in and said that she absolutely didn't agree and that his take was false. Biden has talked about shifting funding from police officers being forced to handle social services in their positions and put that responsibility back onto social workers, something that police have said they actually want.

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