You've probably been informed by now that President Joe Biden, who is double masked and quadruple vaxxed, is suffering from COVID-19.
Contrary to previous claims that we're experiencing a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” and that people who have the vaccine aren't at risk of getting infected, Biden has joined the ranks of the unwashed masses. Biden also breached CDC guidelines in a photo shoot when he first discovered he was infected. It was a “chef's kiss” response.
However, the real excitement took place at the press briefing on Thursday. RedState reported that the White House comms team was not thrilled with having to respond to questions regarding Biden's condition. When reporters asked for the exact location where Biden was infected, Karine Jean-Pierre snapped, saying “I don't think that matters.” This reply came over a year of the administration seeming to care about contact tracing.
In a previous incident, Karine-Jean Pierre appeared to be angry with a reporter who was accusing White House officials of not being open and transparent. In this incident, she showed her displeasure when National Journal's George Condon said “shield[ing] him from questions would be the least transparency of any WH in 50 years on a presidential illness.” Karine-Jean Pierre responded with, “Wow. I wholeheartedly disagree…We are doing this very differently” from Trump.
Of course Jean-Pierre came up with a chance to include Donald Trump in the conversation. Trump continues to be a big part of the conversation with the Biden administration. This is a weak and desperate attempt to deflect the issue, thinking that if she repeats the name “Trump” enough times, she'll be able to keep away the difficult questions addressed to her. Also, she's wrong in that the present administration's strategy is less obvious than the one that the Trump administration used.
The first thing she says is that “we” haven't seen the president due to the fact that “we are following CDC guidance.” That’s not the case, however. Biden and his staff breached CDC guidelines on Thursday, taking pictures of him “doing great.” He wasn't wearing a mask as is required and was not isolating, since photographers had to be present with Biden.
This is the bigger picture. The White House is running in fear. A communication team that is confident about what they're declaring doesn't behave like this. This communication team is so unprofessional and incapable of handling even the tiniest of off-script incidents. The fact that Karine Jean-Pierre is the one in the helm is an indication of how unqualified and unprofessional she is for the job she is doing.
Additionally, it is quite possible that members of the administration are truly concerned that the president may not really be “doing great.” He is an elderly man who seems to be having difficulties walking and processing information at times. Chances are that he'll recover, but the White House appears terrified to be transparent with journalists and the American public about what's happening.
None of this will inspire confidence in Biden's capability to lead the country. In Biden's “doing great” picture, he appears very unwell. The administration doesn't have any answers that are satisfactory regarding the president's health, no matter if it's due to COVID or his overall decline. It's going to be more problematic in the future.
