White House Press Secretary Jen “Circle Back” Psaki threw shade at states moving to completely reopen in a press conference earlier this week.
Press Secretary Psaki was asked to comment on the announcement by Texas Governor Gregg Abbott, who said he is eliminating the mask mandate in his state and opening the economy entirely. Predictably, Psaki repeated the party line that the only way to survive the pandemic is to shutter in place indefinitely.
“This entire country has paid the price for political leaders who ignored the science when it comes to the pandemic,” she said. “We need to remain vigilant.”
The move by Governor Abbott to completely reopen his state is the most aggressive anti-lockdown statement to date. Following not far behind are states like South Dakota and Florida, which never locked down completely. Florida still observes a mask mandate, but mitigating policies are largely left to individual counties.
While Abbott’s move is certainly bold, he is still cautioning residents in his state that the threat of the pandemic isn’t completely gone.
“To be clear, COVID has not, like, suddenly disappeared,” Governor Abbott said during a press conference on Tuesday. “COVID still exists in Texas, the United States and across the globe, but it is clear from the recoveries, the vaccinations, from the reduced hospitalizations and from the safe practices Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed.”
It should really come as no surprise that the White House would take issue with Governor Abbott’s decision. The only reason President Biden is in power at all is because of the media’s fear mongering about the virus. Without that threat, Biden’s legitimacy in office is virtually nil. It’s not like voters put Biden in the White House because of his foreign policy or something — although they are still waiting on that $2,000 check.
Here’s the DC Shorts with more.
