In another instance of COVID panic undermining “the science,” President Biden insisted in a Friday interview that he still plans to wear masks outside — despite new CDC guidance this week that masks do not need to be worn by vaccinated people outdoors.
Speaking to NBC News in a wide-ranging interview Friday, the commander-in-chief called mask wearing a “patriotic responsibility.”
“The likelihood of my being outside and people not coming up to me, is not very, very high,” Biden said while explaining his decision.
“It’s a small precaution to take that has a profound impact. It’s a patriotic responsibility for God’s sake.”
The nation’s leading scientists, however, are offering different advice.
Those who have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna immunizations, or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, can go mask-free for small outdoor get-togethers — even if other attendees are not vaccinated, CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House press briefing this week.
“There are many situations where fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks, particularly if they are outdoors,” Walensky said.
“Generally, for vaccinated people, outdoor activities without a mask are safe. However, we continue to recommend masking in crowded outdoor settings and venues such as packed stadiums and concerts.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of Biden’s chief medical advisers, called the CDC decision “common sense” this week, given that “outdoor risk is really, really quite low.”
As the administration works to combat vaccine hesitancy among conservatives and people of color, some Republicans have called the emphasis on mask-wearing unhelpful.
The argument is that Americans won’t want to take the vaccine if they’ll still need to wear a mask.
Biden was also asked about his multi-trillion-dollar proposals, specifically whether they would benefit the economy as it begins to rebound from lockdowns.
The president responded by arguing that his $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill passed a month ago was causing the economic rebound seen today.
“That’s the reason why it’s recovering,” Biden replied. “Because we’re investing.”
“Look how rapidly it’s recovered since we passed the last piece of legislation, and that legislation was $1.9 trillion. If we don’t invest in this country, we’re going to actually start to, we’re going to fall behind even further.”
The White House on Wednesday unveiled the details of Biden’s $1.8 trillion “American Families Plan.”
Democrats in Congress, meanwhile, are still writing his $2.3 trillion “American Jobs Plan” — after passing his $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” in March without any GOP support.
In order to pay for the package, the federal government would impose a slew of new taxes, the administration revealed alongside the plan last month.
Republicans have cautioned that undoing former President Donald Trump’s 2018 tax cuts, however, would slow economic growth at a time when the country has begun to rebound from crippling lockdowns.
Asked about Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) claim that the US was not a racist country, Biden appeared to agree — but added that the “overhang from all of the Jim Crow and before that, slavery,” has put black Americans “in a position where they are so far behind the eight ball.”
“I don’t think the American people are racist. But I think after 400 years, African Americans have been left in a position where they are so far behind the eight ball in terms of education and health, in terms of opportunity.
“I don’t think America’s racist, but I think the overhang from all of the Jim Crow and before that, slavery, have had a cost and we have to deal with it,” the commander-in-chief replied.
Pressed about the migrant crisis at the southern border, which has erupted under his administration, Biden defended his policies and his rhetoric toward the matter, while also insisting that he was getting the situation under control.
“It’s way down now. We’ve now got control,” he said, appearing to reference the number of migrants. It is not clear what numbers he is referring to to make that case, given all metrics show no sign of the crisis slowing down.
Biden also took his administration’s usual MO of blaming former President Trump, saying that as a result of the 45th president’s refusal to begin the transition process at first, according to Biden, his team was unable to get what information it needed.
“We didn’t find out they had fired a whole lot of people, that they were understaffed considerably,” he argued, seeming to reference government agencies which cared for illegal immigrant children.
He went on to say that there is now a “significant change in circumstance for children coming to and at the border,” without elaborating.
