The Political Insider

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, confronted over Joe Biden’s past assertions that as President he would “shut down” the virus if he were elected, suggested it’s Americans who need to do more.

Unvaccinated Americans, to be sure.

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy took aim at Biden’s campaign vow to “shut down” the pandemic, which has not occurred.

More Americans died from COVID in 2021 than died in 2020.

Don’t point your finger at the current administration, however.

RELATED: DeSantis Fires Back After Jen Psaki Attacks Florida’s Handling Of The Pandemic

Psaki On Shutting Down The Virus: ‘We’re working on it’

Doocy began his questioning of Psaki by recalling Biden’s campaign promise to “shut down” the pandemic.

You may recall that in the final presidential debate, Biden promised, “I’m going to shut down the virus, not the country.”

He made similar promises throughout the campaign.

“Whatever happened to President [Joe] Biden’s promise to shut down the virus?” Doocy wondered aloud in a press briefing Wednesday.

“We’re working on it, Peter,” Psaki replied.

Can’t wait to see those 2024 bumper stickers – ‘Biden: We’re Working On It.’

Pressed further on the matter, Psaki offered some suggestions for the federal government to help but also deflected blame onto the American people.

RELATED: Conservatives Could Shutdown Government To Defund Vaccine Mandate

American People Need To Do More

“There’s another variant here, is the idea that you want people to wrap their heads around that the president, instead of shutting down the virus, is gonna try to help people amidst the virus?” Doocy asked referencing the omicron variant.

“What we can do, as the federal government, is make those vaccines free, make the boosters free, make them available. The president will talk more about what we’re going to do tomorrow,” replied Psaki.

“But we need the American people to do more, who are not vaccinated to help us continue to fight the virus.”

A rather curious tactic to shift blame to the American people, especially when the President’s approval ratings are as abysmally low as they currently are.

I don’t think the ‘Well, actually, it’s your fault’ tactic is the best approach but hey, the guy got 81 million votes so his handlers must know what they’re doing, right?

President Biden has alleged that surging COVID cases in parts of the country and new variants are in reality a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

They’re the true reason Biden can’t shut down the virus, according to the administration.

Reality says otherwise.

• A person in California who became the first patient to test positive for the omicron variant was “fully vaccinated.”
• NBA star LeBron James entered the League’s COVID safety protocols this week despite being “fully vaccinated.”
• Two weeks ago health officials warned that an increasing number of “fully vaccinated” people are being hospitalized.
• Nearly half of the guests at a Christmas party in Norway reportedly got the omicron variant despite being “fully vaccinated” and testing negative before the event.

To be clear, the data still suggests that hospitalizations of unvaccinated Americans remain the majority. Transmission, however, is not limited from the unvaccinated to the unvaccinated. 

A medical study in The Lancet indicates the rate of cases among fully vaccinated individuals aged 60 and older has gone from 16.9% in July to 58.9% in October.

“It appears to be grossly negligent to ignore the vaccinated population as a possible and relevant source of transmission when deciding about public health control measures,” the report reads.