Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, tried to credit President Joe Biden and his administration for the decrease in COVID-19 cases and the rollback of restrictions state governors have announced in recent days.
"Here’s where we are in America. Job creation is up, wages are up, unemployment is down, and the Omicron variant is in retreat. And that’s not by accident. That’s because under President Biden’s leadership, a public health infrastructure was put into place, beginning with the American Rescue Plan, without a single Republican vote, to ensure that we can do everything possible to crush the virus, and that is what has been happening through the trials and tribulations of a once-in-a-century pandemic, through the Dealt the variant, now through the Omicron variant," the New York Democrat said on Tuesday.
"When President Biden took office, there were 2 million Americans fully vaccinated. One year later, more than 200 million Americans are fully vaccinated. That doesn’t happen by accident. That’s because President Biden and Democrats in the House and the Senate have leaned into the science, to the evidence to standing up a robust public health infrastructure, and now we are seeing the fruits of that work," he continued.
Jeffries' claim is, of course, complete nonsense. The reason why COVID cases are falling is because the Omicron variant is much more transmissible, thereby infecting more people, vaccinated or not. Despite its transmissibility, the Omicron variant is much more milder, giving people natural immunity. The widespread of Omicron during December and January actually flew in the face of Biden's campaign promise to "shut down" the virus. He can not take credit for the fall in cases after failing to prevent the extreme rise of cases that occurred beforehand.
The other reason why Jeffries' claim is bogus is because we all know why they are all of sudden speaking of returning to normal: the midterms are this year and COVID restrictions, which Democrats championed for years despite what the science has said, are unpopular.
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