According to President Joe Biden and the White House, even though coronavirus numbers are on the decline and even though the population is getting vaccinated, there probably will not be a return to normalcy here in America anytime soon.
This past Tuesday President Biden took part in a town hall that was held by CNN. There he was asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper “when are we going to get back to normal?”
Biden launched into a lengthy response in which he said that he has been advised “not to predict things that you don’t know for certain.” But, nonetheless, he predicted “next Christmas.”
Biden did not clarify whether he really did mean “next Christmas” – Christmas 2022 – or whether he actually meant “this Christmas” – Christmas 2021.
How does one define normal, anyway?
To most Americans, of course, the question “when will life return to normal” really means “when will life here in America go back to the way it was before the coronavirus?”
Based on other responses Biden gave, though, it appears that his definition of normal might be significantly different.
Biden, for example, said that in February 2022 Americans, albeit “significantly fewer people,” will likely still need to wear facemasks and to socially distance. Biden was not pressed on why this would still be necessary if the majority of the population is vaccinated, something that is likely to occur by the Summer of 2021.
Psaki’s turn
The following day, on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked the same question as Biden – when will life here in America return to normal?
“We, we want to be straight with the American public though,” Psaki said. “It is, we are not in a place where we can predict exactly when everybody will feel normal again and it has, there a number of reasons and one is even though we will have enough doses for every person in this country as you all know because we’ve talked about in here vaccine hesitancy remains a challenge.”
Psaki, like Biden, also said that people will still have to wear face masks “for quite some time” and that “social distancing measures” will still be necessary, even as the vaccinations continue. She, again like Biden, was also not pressed on why these measures would still be necessary.
“And, I think the president wants things to return to normal as we all do but we, we don’t know at this point what that timeline is going to look like,” she added.
So, based on the statements of Biden and Psaki, it doesn’t appear that – at least under their leadership – life in America is going to return to normal anytime soon.
The post Biden predicts that life could return to normal by “next Christmas” first appeared on Conservative Institute.
No comments: