Biden Touts Federal Plan to Fight Omicron After Saying ‘There Is No Federal Solution’
01:44 GMT 29.12.2021 (Updated: 14:00 GMT 19.12.2022)
© REUTERS / EVELYN HOCKSTEIN
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The approval ratings of US President Joe Biden continue to slip amid the ongoing criticism of the government’s COVID-19 response. On Monday, while discussing coronavirus measures with state governors, the president said that there is “no federal plan” to end the pandemic, urging states to take the initiative.
Biden took to Twitter on Tuesday to tout a “federal plan to tackle Omicron by adding vaccination and booster capacity, hospital equipment, staff, and more,” just after claiming that tackling the issue is up to the states.
The POTUS noted that his administration “has the back of every governor fighting COVID-19 in their state” shortly after he noted that states should take more decisive action.
My Administration has the back of every governor fighting COVID-19 in their state. Last week, I rolled out a federal plan to tackle Omicron by adding vaccination and booster capacity, hospital equipment, staff, and more.
— President Biden (@POTUS) December 28, 2021
We’re going to get through this by working together.
The day before, Biden said that the federal government doesn't have a practical solution to tackle the pandemic after Arkansas Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson had warned the president against letting "federal solutions stand in the way of state solutions."
"There is no federal solution. This gets solved at the state level," Biden said. “It ultimately gets down to where the rubber meets the road and that's where the patient is in need of help, or preventing the need for help."
Meanwhile, at the same meeting, Biden announced that the administration had adopted a plan to send 500,000 free rapid tests to American households and local hospitals in January and spoke about other measures aimed to soften the negative impact of the pandemic.
Nevertheless, amid reports that the Biden administration was hesitant to undertake measures proposed by medical experts, a Gallup Poll showed that the president's ratings have fallen lower than Vice President Kamala Harris'. Their performance was approved by 43 and 44 percent of Americans respectively.
