President Joe Biden hosted a Wuhan coronavirus meeting with a number of governors Monday. He did so from the fake White House set in the Eisenhower Office Building. Chief Medical Advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci and Centers for Disease Control Director Rochelle Walensky were in attendance.
“If you need something say something,” Biden said to governors, who joined virtually. “Seeing how tough it was for some folks to get a test this weekend shows that we have more work to do.”
The press pool was allowed in at the beginning, but as soon as they started asking questions, they were promptly escorted out by COVID coordinator Jeffery Zients. Specifically, Biden was asked if he supports mandating vaccination for domestic flights.
WH Covid coordinator Jeff Zients boots press pool before we could hear Biden take questions from governors on Covid...
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 27, 2021
Biden: "I understand you guys may have some questions. Jeff?"
Zients: "Good."
*Long pause*
Zients: "I think we're going to clear the press first." pic.twitter.com/uwZ6xEmS4H
Last week Biden said he "wasn't supposed to be" answering reporter questions.
Biden is going along and then, all of a sudden, he starts swaying and yelling at the clouds....then ends his answer by saying "I'm not supposed to be having this press conference right now."
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 21, 2021
That's on top of coughing earlier. The President of the United States is...not well. pic.twitter.com/fvXuxWaMZO
Before reporters were kicked out of the room, Biden admitted the response to the disease isn't a "federal responsibility." This of course breaks a major campaign promise from Biden to "shut down the virus." He also said current testing capabilities are not enough after the administration turned down a robust plan in October.
BIDEN, TODAY: “There is no federal solution” to COVID.
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 27, 2021
BIDEN, 2020: “I’m going to shut down the virus.” pic.twitter.com/3d1RaHRcyX
Biden defends testing efforts amid reports his team was warned in October about need for more available tests:
— The Recount (@therecount) December 27, 2021
"It's clearly not enough ... If we had known, we would have gone harder, quicker, if we could have." pic.twitter.com/HFX1uDYP58
Biden will leave for Delaware Monday afternoon and has no public events scheduled for the rest of the week.