Jimmy Kimmel apologises to Mike Pence for implying that he delivered empty boxes of protective equipment to nursing home

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has apologised to Mike Pence for a segment on his show that implied he delivered empty boxes of protective medical equipment to a nursing home, but criticised the vice president for a "staged publicity stunt."

The controversy arose following a visit by Mr Pence to the Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Centre in Alexandria, Virginia, to deliver protective medical equipment on behalf of the US Federal Emergency Management Agency.

After being filmed unloading several boxes of protective gear from a van, the vice president is told by a staff member that the rest of the boxes in the vehicle were empty.

Mr Pence responded: "Well can I carry the empty ones, just for the camera?"

The vice president appeared to be joking, and did not actually deliver any empty boxes.

But the clip was picked up by Mr Kimmel in a segment on his show.

"Mike Pence pretending to carry empty boxes of PPE into a hospital is the perfect metaphor for who he is, and what he's doing. A big box of nothing, delivering another box of nothing," Mr Kimmel said.

Mr Kimmel was accused by a member of Mr Pence's campaign staff of selectively editing the clip used on his show.

"This is absolute garbage spread by @JimmyKimmel," tweeted Jon Thompson, Mr Pence's campaign communications director. "Pence is clearly joking about empty boxes & if Kimmel showed the full clip from CSPAN, not the one he selectively edited, you see and hear it."

Mr Kimmel later issued something of an apology on Twitter.

"It would appear that @vp was joking about carrying empty boxes for a staged publicity stunt. The full video reveals that he was carrying full boxes for a staged publicity stunt. My apologies. I know how dearly this administration values truth," he wrote.

The Trump administration has faced criticism for its response to the coronavirus pandemic. In the early months of the outbreak, medical staff on the frontlines of treating the disease faced severe shortages of protective equipment.

On Thursday, Donald Trump contradicted a nurse who said that supply of personal protective equipment, or PPE, has been "sporadic" across the US and inside the community health centre where she works.

Sophia Thomas, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, told the president that she has reused her N95 mask “for a few weeks” before bringing a new one to the White House, which hosted the president’s signing of a proclamation recognising National Nurses Day during the coronavirus pandemic. Asked whether she is seeing an adequate supply of protective gear, she said it has been “sporadic” and that her colleagues have reported “pockets of areas where PPE is not ideal.”

Mr Trump responded: “Sporadic for you, but not sporadic for a lot of other people....Because I’ve heard the opposite.”

The US now has the highest number of deaths from the virus anywhere in the world. More than 75,000 Americans have died from Covid-19 so far, according to Johns Hopkins University.