President Biden held a virtual meeting with the National Governors Association yesterday. The White House has posted the transcript here.
Running for office last year, Biden held himself out as the man with a plan to defeat Covid-19. Students of ancient history may recall that he vowed “to shut down the virus.” (A true student of ancient history, Victor Davis Hanson has more on this point here.) In the words of the Dylan song, however, things have changed.
“Thank you very much. Look, there is no federal solution,” Biden said as he began speaking to the governors. “This gets solved at a state level.”
Speaking from his fake White House television set, Biden “indicated that only governors could end the pandemic by leading the charge,” as the New York Post story puts it.
“It ultimately gets down to where the rubber meets the road,” Biden said, referring to state government. “My message to the governors is simple. If you need something, say something.”
Running for office, Biden held President Trump for the deaths that occurred as the virus spread: “Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America.”
He still found time to blame others implicitly yesterday: “When I took office 10 months into — we were 10 months into the pandemic and, even so, we had no — zero — over-the-counter home tests in the United States. None.” When it comes to attributing responsibility to others, implicitly or explicitly, things haven’t changed that much.
Reconciling Biden’s remarks yesterday with his past bloviations and with the current ukases of his administration is a big job. Two of his ukases are scheduled for argument before the Supreme Court on January 7. He won’t tell the Court that “there is no federal solution.” Things will have changed back.
“There is no federal solution. This gets solved at the state level.”
President Joe Biden promised to help states combat COVID-19 with the full support of the federal government while speaking to governors Monday. “If you need something, say something," Biden said. pic.twitter.com/jbuMNaPngT
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) December 27, 2021
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