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Former Pence Aide Pitches Damning Coronavirus Debate Questions For Ex-Boss

Olivia Troye, a former aide to Mike Pence, knows exactly what damning questions she’d ask the vice president at Wednesday’s debate with Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

Troye, who served on the White House coronavirus task force led by Pence, on Tuesday told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell that she’d ask the vice president to explain President Donald Trump’s questionable behavior during the pandemic (such as removing his mask outside the White House on Monday, while he was likely still highly contagious) and constant undermining of the government’s messaging.

She’d also grill Pence on how he could continue to stand by the president.

“How does he explain that?” said Troye. “I would love an explanation of how you explain all of the work that we have done, you know since January, all of these months on this pandemic to keep Americans safe, how do you explain the behavior of the president and how do you stand by it?”

Troye, a lifelong Republican, left the White House in August after two years as Pence’s adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism and then the coronavirus.

In September, she endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden via a video released by the group Republican Voters Against Trump. “I am voting for Joe Biden because I truly believe we are at a time of constitutional crisis. At this point it’s country over party,” she said in the clip.

Troye has since slammed Trump’s “flat-out disregard for human life” during the pandemic and claimed the president once spent 45 minutes ranting about Fox News instead of tackling critical issues about the crisis.

Check out Troye’s comments on MSNBC’s “The Last Word” above.

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