David Letterman criticizes Mike Pence for 'taunting' coronavirus patients by not wearing a mask

David Letterman hasn’t hosted the Late Show in five years, so he doesn’t have a nightly monologue, but he continues to offer his take on issues of the day. Take, for instance, his opinion on Vice President Mike Pence’s decision to forgo a mask during a visit Tuesday the renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

“Now if you go to the Mayo Clinic because you have COVID-19, you really have it,” Letterman told Howard Stern on the Wednesday episode of Stern’s SiriusXM show. “[Pence] takes time off from his gig as a mannequin, and he’s walking around without a mask taunting these poor people who are bedridden and wearing a mask. To me, that is just taunting people who are ill, to see that guy walking around in his $40 suit walking around in the Mayo Clinic without a mask.”

The Mayo Clinic normally requires that everyone there wear a mask to avoid the spread of the virus. Pence, the Trump administration’s coronavirus czar, didn’t wear one while meeting with a Mayo employee who’s recovered from the virus, touring the facility and sitting down to talk with officials, although others did.

Pence said that he’s undergone regular tests for the coronavirus and maintained that it was necessary that he attend the meetings without a mask. The BBC reported that the clinic posted and deleted a tweet that said Pence was told in advance that it required masks.

Letterman said the move was “particularly a thorn in my side,” because Pence is the former governor of the comedian’s home state of Indiana.

The host of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction also revealed that the wife of Paul Shaffer, his longtime musical director at his former show, had been hospitalized with COVID-19.

For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.

• What to do if you think you have the coronavirus

• What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

• Glossary of public health terms to stay informed

• The most common ways the coronavirus is transmitted

• How to maintain your physical and mental health during the pandemic

• Taking care of a loved one with COVID-19? Here’s how to stay healthy

• COVID-19 and pregnancy: What we know so far

• How to find a job, unemployment insurance

• Q&A with Dr. Kavita Patel: How to keep your family safe and maintain your mental health

• Opening and cleaning delivery packages

• Tips for grocery shopping

• How to deal with potentially contaminated money

• How to do your laundry safely

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

• Gabrielle Union once told Steph and Ayesha Curry to break up: 'The likelihood of this working out is very low'

• Which drugs Dax Shepard wants his daughters to try — and the ones he'll tell them to avoid

• 'The Price Is Right' announcer George Gray, 53, stable and recovering after 3 heart attacks in 1 week