Thread by @Josiensor

At a Mike Pence rally in The Villages, Florida. I’d say about a quarter of people here are wearing masks. People have pushed their socially distanced chairs together. The Villages is America’s largest retirement village, aka the most vulnerable to Covid-19

My guess is there’s about 1,500 packed into a pretty small square. Three elderly people not wearing masks have already fainted and been medically assisted out #pence #florida

There’s also no shade at Mike Pence’s rally and it’s a super hot Florida summer afternoon

I’ve walked out the paddock because this is becoming a potential superspreader event in a retirement village. I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about them

I asked Secret Service guy if there was an upper limit to the event. His response “you’d think so, but no”

Sadly another elderly woman had to be helped out of the Pence rally by medics #florida

Another one since I tweeted! Still people are being ushered in. #pencerally

Another one requiring help #PenceRally #TheVillages #florida

The Trump campaign put socially distanced chairs out for this rally but I can’t even see them now

One retiree just joked to her similarly aged friend: “there goes social distancing.” The few who are wearing masks are pulling them down to speak to each other and eat ice cream. #PenceRally #TheVillages #Florida

Mike Pence is the head of the Coronavirus task force. This is his event in a retirement village today when numbers in Florida are rising

Another woman down. The organisers helping her out are not wearing masks #PenceinFlorida

“This is a debate between two visions,” says Mike Pence. “Say no to socialised medicine and taxpayer-funded abortions” #Florida

Trump campaign's director of communications says 3,000 turned out for Pence's speech in the end. I have a feeling this won't be last we here about this event #Covid19 #Florida #TheVillages

https://twitter.com/TimMurtaugh/status/1315022063879565314

Utterly shameless, I know. But while you're here please please considering donating to a fundraiser for our friend Linda, a Filipino cleaner who worked in Beirut before the explosion & now desperately needs money to leave and set up a small shop back home gofundme.com/f/help-lynda-g…

My write up @Telegraph: Several began leaving even before Mike Pence took to the stage in The Villages. Were they worried about the virus, I asked. “No,” replied one woman through a mask. “It’s just really hot and we’ve been waiting for two hours already.”
telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/10/1…

I asked people at the rally if they were worried about COVID. One 70-year-old (in a face shield but no mask) told me: "I’m not worried about me, but I’m worried about other people here because obese people get it. I don’t hang around with overweight people so I’ll be fine”