Twitter users expressed confusion and outright mockery after the White House walked back President Biden’s assertion that the COVID-19 pandemic is “over.”
Biden made his remarks during his interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday, his first interview with an American TV journalist in over 200 days. When asked about the state of the U.S.’s fight against the pandemic, Biden told CBS correspondent Scott Pelley, “The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with Covid. We’re still doing a lot of work on it. It’s — but the pandemic is over.”
But according to CNN, an administration official told the outlet that “the President’s comments do not mark a change in policy toward the administration’s handling of the virus, and there are no plans to lift the Public Health Emergency.”