Psaki On Biden’s Promise To ‘Shut Down The Virus’: ‘We Need The American People To Do More’ | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This older, but yet to be published post is finally being presented now as an archivable history of the current events of these days that will become the real history of tomorrow.

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire.     The author of this post is Ashe Schow.

    White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki danced around questions on Wednesday pertaining to President Joe Biden's handling of the pandemic and all out avoided answering a question about whether a standard that Biden held former President Donald Trump to during a debate should apply to Biden now.

    "To the questions from earlier about messaging, what ever happened to President Biden's promise to shut down the virus?" a reporter asked. "There's another variant here. Is the idea that you want people now to kind of wrap their heads around that the President, instead of shutting down the virus, is going to try to help people live amidst the virus and go about their lives but COVID is going to be here?"

    Psaki said that what was needed was "approximately 20 percent of the population or more people than are currently vaccinated to go get vaccinated and go get boosted."

    "We need the American people to do more - who are not vaccinated - to help us continue to fight the virus," Psaki added.

    Biden repeatedly stated on the campaign trail that he was working to "shut down the virus."

    "A lot of talk about the first Trump-Biden debate today, but at the second one in 2021, when roughly 220,000 Americans had already died of COVID, Joe Biden said about Trump, 'Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America,'" the reporter said. "Is that still the standard now that more Americans have died under President Biden than President Trump?"

    "Well, I think the fundamental question here is: What are you doing to save lives and protect people?" Psaki said in not answering the question as she went on to make speculative claims about the prior administration.

    After putting her spin on things, Psaki said, "And I think there's a pretty stark difference between their approaches."

    WATCH:

   

    TRANSCRIPT:

    PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS REPORTER: So President Biden talks about how respecting the rule of law is one of America's most cherished values. Does that mean that he's going to stop pushing for these vaccine mandates for workers now that federal courts are saying that they don't know if they're legal?

    JEN PSAKI, PRESS SECRETARY: Well, let's just - let's just clarify exactly what we're talking about here. There are vaccine requirements that -- and testing - a lot of companies do requirement for - to be vaccinated or tested that companies across the country have been putting in place for months.

    Recent polling by USA Today and other outlets have suggested that 60 percent of businesses are moving forward on putting these requirements in place. You know why? Because it makes sure they have a healthier workplace. It makes people feel more confident in going back to work - something that a lot of employers, as they're trying to hire, have had issues with. And that they're moving forward and putting in place additional requirements or additional steps to protect their workforce. That's absolutely their right to do.

    There are court cases right now - something that the Department of Justice is fighting - and we are confident in our ability, given it's based on a 50-year law - these OSHA requirements. And the implementation date is in early January.

    But what should be clear to people out there is that private sector companies, many of whom are just putting in place steps to protect their workforces, have every right to do that. That helps their workforce. That helps the economy. And that's something we certainly support and advocate for people doing.

    DOOCY: Okay. To the questions from earlier about messaging, what ever happened to President Biden's promise to shut down the virus?

    PSAKI: We're working on it, Peter.

    DOOCY: There's another variant here. Is the idea that you want people now to kind of wrap their heads around that the President, instead of shutting down the virus, is going to try to help people live amidst the virus and go about their lives but COVID is going to be here?

    PSAKI: Well, Peter, what's very important for people to understand and all of you are communicating to the public about what steps they can take to go back to normal or go back to normal life - something everybody wants to do.

    We're all sick and tired of this virus, but we need approximately 20 percent of the population or more people than are currently vaccinated to go get vaccinated and go get boosted.

    What we can do as the federal government is make those vaccines free, make the boosters free, make them available. The President will talk more about what we're going to do tomorrow. But we need the American people to do more - who are not vaccinated - to help us continue to fight the virus.

    DOOCY: Last one. A lot of talk about the first Trump-Biden debate today, but at the second one in 2021, when roughly 220,000 Americans had already died of COVID. Joe Biden said about Trump, "Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America." Is that still the standard now that more Americans have died under President Biden than President Trump?

    PSAKI: Well, I think the fundamental question here is: What are you doing to save lives and protect people? And the former President was suggesting people inject bleach. He apparently, reportedly, didn't even share with people he was going to interact with that he had tested positive for COVID himself. He continued to provide a forum for misinformation, which probably led to people not getting - not taking steps forward to get - to protect themselves, to wear a mask, to eventually get vaccinated.

    This President has made the vaccine widely available. He's relied on the health - the advice of his health and medical experts. And he is trying to be a part of solving this crisis - getting the pandemic under control. And I think there's a pretty stark difference between their approaches.

    The Daily Wire is one of America's fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.