During Thursday's White House press briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre opened the door to more lockdowns due to the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic if "experts" make the case for a return to such pre-vaccine restrictions.
President Biden said in a statement Tuesday that America could "avoid the kind of lockdowns, shutdowns, school closures, and disruptions we faced in 2020" if people follow the CDC's rebooted mask guidance. But President Biden also said in May that "If you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask," a position his administration reversed due to its concerns over the Delta variant. "So why should Americans trust him now?" asked Fox News' Peter Doocy.
"Because we listen to the scientists, we listen to the expert[s] — this is a public health situation," responded Jean-Pierre, who spoke maskless at the podium. "This is not about politics at all, this is about saving lives, and this is what the President is all about... and you see that in the numbers," she added. "Now we're at a point where we have to double down and make it very very clear to people that we can't let the pandemic win," which is apparently the signal the White House thinks a reimposition of mask mandates — even for vaccinated Americans — is sending.
DOOCY: Why should Americans trust Joe Biden now?
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 29, 2021
Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre: "Because we listen to the scientists. We listen to the experts...Now we're at a point where we have to double down." pic.twitter.com/Uj3a5CZmcd
"If scientists come to you at some point down the line and say it is our opinion that there should be shutdowns and there should be school closures, you would do that?" asked Doocy in a follow-up question.
"Like I said, we listen to the CDC and the expert[s] and their guidance," said Jean-Pierre without ruling out the possibility that Americans could see more lockdowns and school closures. "The CDC is a body that is very well-respected and we follow their guidance," she added.
Deputy Press Secretary: "The CDC is a body that is very well respected." pic.twitter.com/IHaw0TqUrj
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 29, 2021
As Townhall has covered, the administration was caught seemingly plagiarizing teacher union statements for official CDC guidance for schools back in May. And a poll released in March found that just 52% of Americans have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of trust in the CDC, while one-in-five said they trust the CDC "not very much" or "not at all."
What Jean-Pierre admitted from the White House podium Thursday suggests that what Biden says in his official statements on the Wuhan coronavirus are not the final word. As the CDC's reversal on masking guidance for vaccinated Americans demonstrated, others in the administration can simply say the magic words — either "science" or "experts" — and the lockdowns will return.