It seems like President Joe Biden might be a little confused about his messaging on COVID-19.
In September, he said the pandemic was over. Then on Tuesday, he called it a global health emergency. But moments later, he insisted Americans need to work to ensure it does not become a national emergency.
Delivering remarks before receiving his updated Covid booster shot, Biden said, “This is a global health emergency. If we really want to put Covid behind us, we have to keep up the fight together.”
Watch the video below:
Biden calls Covid "a global health emergency" after declaring last month that the "pandemic is over." pic.twitter.com/lyi6ndWXeE
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 25, 2022
The president then encouraged Americans to receive their updated Covid booster as he warned, “If you don’t, you’re putting yourself and other people unnecessarily at risk.”
However, after declaring that Covid is a “global health emergency,” he was asked if it is a national emergency.
“It’s a necessity to deal with making sure it doesn’t become one,” Biden responded.
Reporter: "Is Covid still a national emergency?"
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) October 25, 2022
Biden: "It's a necessity to deal with making sure it doesn't become one." pic.twitter.com/XBqJsP01ZP
This comes roughly a month after Biden said the pandemic was over during an interview with CBS News.
“The pandemic is over,” he said, adding, “The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with Covid. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over.”
He went on, “If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing. And I think this is a perfect example of it.”
“The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over,” President Biden tells 60 Minutes in an interview in Detroit. https://t.co/7SixTE3OMT pic.twitter.com/s5fyjRpYuX
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 19, 2022
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later insisted the president did not really mean to say the pandemic was over.
“What we saw during that ’60 Minutes’ interview when he made those comments, he was walking through the Detroit car show, the halls of the Detroit car show, and he was looking around,” she explained.
She continued, “We have to remember that the last time they held that event was three years ago. Even as we’re talking about [the United Nations General Assembly], the president is going to speak shortly, as I just mentioned, that hasn’t been held in person for about three years as well. So we are in a different time.”
Whatever Biden’s real view about Covid is, it’s hard to tell because his messaging is all over the place.