NewsBite

Joe Biden gives meandering, incoherent answer on vaccine rollout during CNN town hall

US President Joe Biden has been mocked online after giving a particularly confusing and meandering answer during a televised town hall.

Sam ClenchSam Clench
@SamClench
4 min read
July 23, 2021 - 8:31AM
Joe Biden gives incoherent answer during CNN town hall

US President Joe Biden has been mocked on social media after giving a confusing and meandering answer during a televised town hall forum.

Mr Biden appeared on CNN last night, where he faced questions from ordinary voters.

The discussion focused on the coronavirus pandemic, and specifically the US vaccine rollout, which is currently stalling as the more infectious Delta variant spreads across the country.

Viewers encountered the full range of Bidenisms, which will be familiar to you if you’ve ever watched him speak before.

“Not a joke. Not a joke.”

“No, I’m serious.”

“I really mean it.”

“All kidding aside.”

The frequency of these mildly annoying catchphrases seemed a little higher than usual, and it didn’t escape the notice of politics junkies.

But there was one moment in particular that caught the attention of Mr Biden’s critics.

It happened shortly after moderator Don Lemon asked when the Covid-19 vaccines would be approved for children under the age of 12.

“Soon, I believe,” Mr Biden said.

“Now look, one of the things I committed to do when I got elected-”

Lemon interjected to ask, “How soon?”

“Let me finish the question. The answer,” said the President.

“Soon, in the sense that I do not tell any scientists what they should do. I do not interfere.

“And so they are doing the examinations now, the testing now, and making the decision now. When they are ready, when they have done all the scientific [study] that needs to be done, children ages three, four, five, six, seven and eight, they in fact all have different make-ups. They’re developing.

“They’re trying to figure out whether there’s – vaccination would affect one child that’s such and such an age, and not another child. That’s under way.”

Mr Biden said that led into another “logical” question. Which brings us to the moment that’s been roundly mocked online.

That face when you just accidentally sat on a hedgehog. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP
That face when you just accidentally sat on a hedgehog. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

Here’s what he said next.

“The question is whether or not we should be in a position where you, um, are – why can’t the, the, the experts say, ‘We know that this virus is, in fact, um, it’s going to be,’ or excuse me, ‘We know why all the drugs approved are not temporarily approved, but permanently approved.’ That’s under way too, I expect that to occur quickly.”

Clear as mud. Or perhaps something even more opaque.

Former president Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr, was among those delighting in Mr Biden’s incoherence. The Republican Party’s Twitter account also had some fun with it.

Pressed by Lemon, the President clarified that he was talking about the vaccines getting permanent approval from the Food and Drugs Administration, as opposed to the emergency use authorisations they’re currently approved under.

“You said that you’re talking to scientists. What are they telling you, Mr President?” Lemon followed up.

“What they’re saying is, ‘Let us decide based on scientific data,’” Mr Biden said.

“The expectation – they’re not promising me any specific date – but my expectation, talking to the group of scientists we put together, over 20 of them, plus others in the field, is that sometime, maybe in the beginning of the school year, at the end of August, beginning of September, October, they’ll get a final approval saying the FDA said, ‘No, this is it. It’s good.’

“But again, one last thing. We don’t talk to you enough about this, I think. One last thing that’s really important is, we’re not in a position where we think that any virus, including the Delta virus – which is much more transmissible and more deadly in terms of non-vaccinated people – the various shots that people are getting now cover that. You’re OK, you’re not going to get Covid if you have these vaccinations.”

Mr Biden is not known for giving concise answers. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP
Mr Biden is not known for giving concise answers. Picture: Saul Loeb/AFP

So to summarise, it seems children in the US will be able to get vaccinated from the end of August at the earliest, and maybe a month or two later.

The issue took on a little more urgency this week with the news that a five-year-old boy in Georgia had died from Covid-19.

And the broader vaccine rollout, which has slowed from three million jabs a day to just over 500,000, is increasingly a problem for the US.

The highly infectious Delta variant is now the dominant strain across the country. Earlier this week Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said it accounted for 83 per cent of new infections.

Meanwhile, cases are rising in all 50 states, and have tripled in the past month.

On June 21, the US was averaging 12,000 infections per day. That figure is now 38,000. Hospitalisations have also spiked.

Of the people in hospital with Covid-19, about 97 per cent are unvaccinated. And among those who have died recently, 99.5 per cent were unvaccinated.

A little under half the population is fully vaccinated, while two-thirds of people have received at least one shot.

The government is struggling to convince the remaining third of Americans to get the vaccines. Public polling has consistently shown about 30 per cent of the country does not intend to be vaccinated.

“This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Dr Walensky said during a public health briefing on the day five-year-old Wyatt Gibson died.

“We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage, because unvaccinated people are at risk, and the communities that are fully vaccinated are generally faring well.

“The good news is that if you’re fully vaccinated, you are protected against severe Covid, hospitalisation and death, and are even protected against the known variants, including the Delta variant.

“If you are not vaccinated, you remain at risk. And our biggest concern is that we’re going to continue to see preventable cases, hospitalisations and, sadly, deaths among the unvaccinated.”

Read related topics:Joe BidenVaccine
More related stories

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/us-politics/joe-biden-gives-meandering-incoherent-answer-on-vaccine-rollout-during-cnn-town-hall/news-story/ef100a5548fc990b2505886ed2048063