“And I’ve been calling on governors — Republican and Democrat — and mayors — Republican and Democrat — and local officials to institute mask mandates within their jurisdictions.” The candidate who said he would “shut down the virus” if elected is now the president who talks about wearing masks into 2022.
Amid trashing the efforts of his predecessor to lay the foundation for a mass vaccination program against COVID-19, President Joe Biden on Thursday indicated that his efforts to require mask-wearing will not be going away soon.
“Wearing this mask through the next year here can save lives — a significant number of lives,” Biden said Thursday during a visit to the National Institutes of Health.
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During his visit, Biden called wearing a mask “a patriotic responsibility.”
“We’re in the middle of a war with this virus. It’s a patriotic responsibility — not only if you care about your family, if you care about your fellow Americans,” he said.
He indicated he wants more mask mandates imposed.
“That’s why I asked what the full extent of my authority as president of the United States could be. I signed an executive order that required masking on all federal property, on modes of travel like planes, trains and buses across interstate commerce,” Biden said.
“And I’ve been calling on governors — Republican and Democrat — and mayors — Republican and Democrat — and local officials to institute mask mandates within their jurisdictions.”
Biden’s indication that the end of wearing masks could be a year away did not sit well with many.
The Democrats and the CDC Brown Shirts are going to force you to wear that mask for the rest of your life. https://t.co/mgSn3YO2jE
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) February 12, 2021
It’s an endless shell game where the end is just right around the corner. At least President Biden let some truth slip when he said we’d be wearing masks until the end of 2022.
— Jeremy Chesser (@JeremyChesser3) February 12, 2021
During his remarks, Biden suggested any issues with vaccinations should be laid at the door of former President Donald Trump, not him.
“It’s no secret that the vaccination program was in much worse shape than my team and I anticipated,” he said.
“[M]y predecessor — I’ll be very blunt about it — did not do his job in getting ready for the massive challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions of Americans.
“He didn’t order enough vaccines. He didn’t mobilize enough people to administer the shots.
“He didn’t set up federal vaccine centers where eligible people could go and get their shots,” Biden added.
“When I became president three weeks ago, America had no plan to vaccinate most of the country. It was a big mess,” he said.
“It’s going to take time to fix, to be blunt with you.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s COVID-19 adviser, has contradicted the idea that the Biden administration was left without a vaccine distribution plan.
“We’re certainly not starting from scratch, because there is activity going on in the distribution,” Fauci said last month.
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This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
