President Joe Biden’s comments seem to be walked back by administration officials more than any president in U.S. history. This week, officials are scrambling to walk back Biden’s tough talk regarding defending Taiwan and his surprise declaration that the COVID pandemic “is over.”
Biden made his statement regarding COVID during a Sunday evening interview on “60 Minutes.”
“The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID; we’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over,” Biden said.
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci attempted to provide cover and clarification for Biden on Tuesday.
Months ago, the Daily Mail noted that about 70 percent of those surveyed do not trust Fauci — most believing his poll numbers have worsened in recent months. Nevertheless, Politico reported on Tuesday that the embattled, soon-to-be-retired chief medical adviser said:
“What [Biden] really meant is that the very severe stage of the pandemic of having … 3,000 deaths a day — that stage is no longer present. People should not be cavalier that we’re out of the woods.”
Many questioned Biden’s statement, as earlier this month the White House asked Congress for an additional $22.4 billion in COVID-19 funding, which, according to The Epoch Times, “would support research on vaccines, testing, preparations, and treatment.”
Others have also attempted to clarify Biden’s statement regarding the pandemic:
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) told Fox News: “I think what the president was trying to say is that the worst of the pandemic is over. … The way I would phrase it is the worst of the pandemic is over.”
Other Democrats, however, sought to put distance between their opinions and Biden.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told reporters on Monday: “COVID is not over.” When asked about the president’s remarks, he replied: “I don’t know what he meant … some people use ‘pandemic’ or ‘epidemic’ or other phrases. And he said that COVID isn’t over; the pandemic is over. But the way I look at it, COVID isn’t over.”
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) told ABC News: “The variants are still out there. We are all hoping that it’s over [but] nobody is going to predict with certainty that it is. I’m not.”
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