December 28, 2020 10:37 AM UTC

Sen. Donovan Busts Down Mike Pence In Vail

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• by: Colorado Pols

Newsweek reports today following up on a CBS4 Denver story from the weekend:

Vice President Mike Pence’s vacation in Vail, Colorado drew the ire of a state senator who is using his visit to highlight how the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted her home state.

Pence quietly left Washington, DC as President Donald Trump threatened to tank a pandemic relief bill, risking aid to struggling Americans just as enhanced unemployment benefits were set to expire, before himself jetting off to Palm Beach, Florida…

Colorado State Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Democrat, has been blasting Pence on Twitter ever since it was reported that he was heading to Vail for the holidays.

Although Vice President Mike Pence’s office has reportedly still not officially confirmed his location and the trip was booked under requests for anonymity, RealVail.com reports the outgoing veep and and his wife Mother are staying through the New Year at the high-rate RockResort Lodge at Vail in the middle of Vail Village. Learning of Pence sneaking into the presidential winter sports getaway made famous by former President Gerald Ford, state Sen. Kerry Donovan responded with what can best be described as an epic mic-dropping Twitter beatdown:

.@VP / @Mike_Pence, planning for a cocktail before dinner tonight? It is taking my friends in the service industry 3 times the work to make the same money as a year ago. So make sure you tip extra big-your lack of leadership made this a much longer hardship than it ever had to be

— Kerry Donovan (@KerryDonovanSD5) December 26, 2020

Make sure you read Sen. Donovan’s multiday thrashing in its entirety, she deserves the international credit she’s getting for calling Pence out over the hardship caused by the administration’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic. As for the Vice President, the question of how he intends to manage the last few weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency is really all that’s left to ask. Pence will return from Vail to Washington after the New Year, preside over (or not) the final procedural step in Joe Biden’s victory over Trump, and then immediately leave the country for what’s being described as a “valedictory” world tour. Trump is reportedly growing frustrated with Pence for not doing enough to stoke outrage in the wake of their defeat, and everyone should be watching closely signs of division between Trump and Pence between now and January 6th.

With all of this in mind, we’re certainly not going to tell Mike Pence he’s unwelcome to visit Colorado–and to her credit, Sen. Donovan didn’t do that either. Every dollar being spent in Vail and surrounding communities as a result of his visit is badly needed. Vice President Pence has plenty to answer for, and Eagle County needs tourism revenue. Far better to see that money spent in Vail than Mar-a-Lago.

Perhaps our clean mountain air will help Pence see the way to ending his term in office with some dignity.