Mike Pence on vacation amid legal battles over U.S. election loss

After a heavily contested election, and while the country reports a record-setting number of novel coronavirus cases, United States Vice-President Mike Pence is going on vacation.

As of Tuesday, Pence, who is also the head of the current U.S. coronavirus task force, will be vacationing in Sanibel, Fla., through Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

Florida’s Gulf Coast is a regular vacation spot for the vice-president and his family, the agency reported.

Pence’s vacation comes on the heels of several major legal battles launched by U.S. President Donald Trump in battleground states that voted in favour of President-elect Joe Biden.

On Monday, Trump’s campaign sued Pennsylvania in an attempt to block the certification of the president-elect’s victory in the state, alleging the state’s mail-in voting system “lacked all of the hallmarks of transparency and verifiability that were present for in-person voters.”

Judges in Michigan and Georgia have dismissed Trump’s allegations of election irregularities in their states.

2:37 VP Debate: Pence questioned on Trump’s refusal to clarify if he would allow a peaceful transfer of power

When asked about Trump’s odds of winning the lawsuits, someone close to the president told NBC News that “all you need to know is that Pence is going on vacation.”

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Global News has reached out to Pence’s office for comment.

Pence is also grappling with a surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases across the country. On Thursday, the U.S. counted 120,276 infections, the second consecutive day in a row the country clocked more than 100,000 cases.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Oct. 25 told CNN’s State of the Union “we’re not going to control the pandemic,” adding the U.S. government would instead focus its efforts on getting a vaccine and therapeutics. He has since been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Biden’s transition team unveiled the Democrats’ coronavirus task force on Monday to develop the nation’s new pandemic response.

Former U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler and Yale University public health care expert Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith will lead the newly formed advisory board, Biden said.