January 1, Biden Says Pandemic is Over, Sparking Backlash from Both Sides

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY…
2001: In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, President George W. Bush declares a “war on terror.”

President Joe Biden said “the pandemic is over” during an interview with “60 Minutes,” sparking backlash across the political spectrum.

“The pandemic is over,” Biden told CBS’s Scott Pelley at the Detroit Auto Show in an interview that aired Sunday. “We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it … but the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape. And so I think it’s changing.”

National Review writer Charles C.W. Cooke asserted that Biden’s declaration “confirms the illegality” of his plan to cancel student debt.

“President Biden’s declaration on 60 Minutes that the pandemic is over—which his administration also argued when ending Title 42 back in May—confirms the illegality of his attempt to transfer hundreds of billions of dollars of student debt to the taxpayer,” Cooke said. “Textually, the OLC’s interpretation of the 2003 HEROES Act was preposterous from top to bottom. But even if one were to cynically ignore all that, the lack of an emergency would render the whole thing moot.”

“Biden just admitted on TV he’s breaking the law,” he added.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said: “If ‘the pandemic is over’ as Biden says, then all of the President’s emergency powers predicated on a pandemic, all COVID vax mandates, the emergency powers of every governor, Emergency Use Authorizations, and the PREP act should all be voided tomorrow.”

If “the pandemic is over” as Biden says, then all of the President’s emergency powers predicated on a pandemic, all COVID vax mandates, the emergency powers of every governor, Emergency Use Authorizations, and the PREP act should all be voided tomorrow.https://t.co/bQZLZ5QGrv

— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) September 19, 2022

MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan took to social media to accuse Biden of lying to Americans.

“One of the (many) reasons they’re not wearing masks is because people like Biden keep (falsely) telling them the pandemic is over,” Hasan said.

Progressive pundit Nina Turner also decried Biden’s statement.

“The pandemic isn’t over,” Turner said. “We are over the pandemic. The pandemic is not over with us. Big distinction.”

Journalist Megyn Kelly responded to Biden’s statement, saying that legal challenges should be filed if the pandemic-era mandates aren’t put to an end.

Kelly tweeted: “THE MANDATES MUST END. IMMEDIATELY. ALL OF THEM. And if they don’t, new legal challenges must be filed ASAP.”

THE MANDATES MUST END. IMMEDIATELY. ALL OF THEM.
And if they don’t, new legal challenges must be filed ASAP https://t.co/J1Y2wZw9Zy

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) September 19, 2022

---

Sources: Politico | The Daily Wire | National Review