Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Tuesday afternoon that President Joe Biden will begin masking indoors following the news that the First Lady tested positive for Covid.
“President Biden tested negative last night for Covid-19 and tested negative again today. He is not experiencing any symptoms,” Jean-Pierre said. “As far as the steps he is taking, since the President was with the First Lady yesterday, he will be masking while indoors and around people, in alignment with CDC guidance.”
While running for president, Biden vowed to “shut down the virus.” Nearly three years later — after virtually every American has already recovered from Covid, gotten the jab, or both — the vaxxed and repeatedly boosted president is still deferring to failed bureaucrats. Despite repeatedly testing negative for the coronavirus, he’s still masking up.
Meanwhile, only 25 percent of Americans, as of this past February, are “very/somewhat worried” about Covid compared to 50 percent in January of 2022 and 58 percent in November of 2020, according to a March 2023 Gallup poll.
Jean-Pierre said the president will “remove his mask when sufficiently distanced from others indoors, and while outside as well.” In a press release, the White House announced Biden will also “test at a regular cadence this week and monitor for symptoms.”
These precautions are being implemented in accordance with CDC exposure guidelines, which were last updated in August of 2022. The CDC continues to recommend that people still get tested, wear masks, and self-isolate if they have been exposed to someone with Covid and don’t immediately display symptoms. This is the standard, “regardless of your vaccination status or if you have had a previous infection.”
In the same briefing, Jean-Pierre said, “We know when people stay up to date with their vaccines, [they] work.” But President Biden’s masking calls into question the efficacy of the very vaccine the CDC and the administration advocated for over the last three years.
A Pew Research study found that 58 percent of Americans think there is high or medium risk when evaluating Covid vaccine side effects. The mixed messaging on behalf of the President’s PR team is particularly good at reinforcing the doubt and skepticism surrounding Covid.
The First Lady is experiencing mild symptoms and is recovering in Delaware.
