2019年8月6日，星期二，副总统迈克·彭斯在白宫罗斯福厅会见英国外交大臣多米尼克·拉布。
在英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊住院期间，副总统迈克·彭斯被推至英国政府最高职位，随后他与英国外交大臣多米尼克·拉布进行了交谈。
彭斯的新闻秘书凯蒂·米勒(Katie Miller)向《新闻周刊》证实，约翰逊生病期间，副总裁在接管英国应对COVID-19疫情的任务后几个小时内立即与Raab进行了交谈。
尽管一些前任英国首相选择了一位副首相作为其指定的继任者，其方式类似于美国副总统，但约翰逊在12月12日英国大选后组建政府时选择了不提名一位副首相。
相反，约翰逊任命Raab为第一国务卿，此外他还是英国最高外交官，Raab是下议院10年的资深议员，也是英国退出欧盟的热心支持者。
约翰逊是一名出生于纽约的前记者，与特朗普关系密切。去年7月，当保守党成员选择他取代特雷莎·梅时，特朗普称他为“好人”。
去年8月8日，副总统会见了Raab，当时Raab作为外交部长首次访问白宫。
约翰逊是因COVID-19而住院的第一位大国领导人，COVID-19是一种新型冠状病毒引起的疾病，世界卫生组织称之为SARS-Cov-2。
他的政府最初拒绝实施现在已经在全球变得司空见惯的那种封锁和留在家里的命令，并且就在3月13日，他的最高科学顾问仍然主张通过允许大部分英国人被感染来鼓励“群体免疫”的发展。
在英国科学界的批评声中，该计划被取消。3月23日，约翰逊发表电视讲话，呼吁英国人在接下来的三周内呆在家里，随后英国采取了全国性的社交疏远政策。
四天后，约翰逊和卫生部长马特·汉考克宣布，他们都检测出COVID-19呈阳性。
白宫和国家安全委员会都没有回应新闻周刊要求进一步了解彭斯和拉布之间的谈话细节，或者特朗普是否计划与他通话。
MIKE PENCE SPOKE TO DOMINIC RAAB AFTER BORIS JOHNSON WAS HOSPITALIZED FOR CORONAVIRUS
Vice President Mike Pence meets with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Vice President Mike Pence spoke to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab after he was thrust into filling the British government's top role by Prime Minister Boris Johnson's hospitalization.
Katie Miller, Pence's Press Secretary, confirmed to Newsweek that the VP spoke with Raab in the hours immediately after he was tasked with managing the UK's response to the COVID-19 epidemic while Johnson is ill.
Although some previous British prime ministers have chosen a deputy prime minister to be his or her designated successor in a manner similar to an American Vice President, Johnson chose not to name a deputy when he formed a government after the UK's December 12 election.
Instead, Johnson tapped Raab, a 10-year House of Commons veteran and an ardent supporter of the UK's exit from the European Union, as First Secretary of State, in addition to his primary role as the UK's top diplomat.
Johnson, a New York-born ex-journalist, has a strong relationship with Trump, who called him "a good man" when Conservative Party members chose him to replace Teresa May last July.
The Vice President met with Raab on August 8 last year, when the Raab visited the White House during his first trip as Foreign Secretary.
Johnson is the first leader of a major power to be hospitalized as a result of COVID-19, the illness caused by a novel coronavirus which the World Health Organization has dubbed SARS-Cov-2.
His government initially resisted imposing the sorts of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders which have now become commonplace across the globe, and as recently as March 13 his top scientific adviser was still advocating a course of encouraging the development of "herd immunity" by allowing large segments of the British population to become infected.
This plan was scrapped amid criticism from the British scientific community, and the UK instead adopted a nationwide policy of social distancing on March 23 after Johnson delivered a televised speech calling on Britons to stay at home for the next three weeks.
Four days later, Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that they each had tested positive for COVID-19.
Neither the White House nor the National Security Council responded to Newsweek's requests for further details on the conversation between Pence and Raab or about whether Trump planned to speak with him.
