On Monday, President Joe Biden informed governors that — despite his earlier promises to “shut down the virus” — there was “no federal solution” to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, these are challenges which should be addressed at the state level.
As reported by The Daily Wire, Biden made the remarks after Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (R), chairman of the National Governors Association, spoke about challenges his state is experiencing in responding to the pandemic.
“And so one word of concern or encouragement for your team is that as you look towards federal solutions that will help alleviate the challenge, make sure that we do not let federal solution stand in the way of state solutions,” Hutchinson said. “And the production of 500 million rapid tests that will be distributed by the federal government is great. But obviously that dries up the supply chain for the solutions that we might offer as governor.”
A few moments later, Biden responded, “Look, there is no federal solution. This gets solved at the state level.”
BIDEN, TODAY: “There is no federal solution” to COVID.
BIDEN, 2020: “I’m going to shut down the virus.” pic.twitter.com/3d1RaHRcyX
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 27, 2021
Biden was immediately slammed on social media for going back on one of his central campaign promises to “shut down the virus.”
- Ben Shapiro: “And yet you spent the pandemic yelling at Ron DeSantis for saying the same thing, you unparalleled boob. Also, perhaps you should end your unconstitutional federal vaxx mandates, Captain There Is No Federal Solution.”
- Sen. Tom Cotton: “When Joe Biden says ‘there is no federal solution,’ he’s trying to avoid blame for his incompetence. If he really believes this, he should rescind his unconstitutional federal mandates.”
- Gov. Greg Abbott: “Biden says there’s no federal solution to COVID and that this gets solved at a state level. He should immediately end his unconstitutional federal mandates. The Texas solution is no mandates and personal responsibility.”
- Gov. Doug Ducey: “President Biden said today ‘there is no federal solution’ to resolve the pandemic. So why is he trying to force vaccine mandates in all 50 states?”
- Dave Rubin: “So what Orange Man wanted. Got it…”
- Benny Johnson: “If there’s ‘no Federal Solution’, then why does Biden insist on shoving Vaccine Mandates down Americans’ throats?”
- Jon Gabriel: “The monomaniacal focus on ‘zero Covid’ needs to end. Instead, Fauci wants to enforce his failed policies even more harshly.”
- Harry Khachatrian: “So Joe Biden effectively tells state governments to figure out Covid for themselves, and the media does not have anything to say about it.”
- John Cooper: “Oh good, I guess we don’t need a federal vaccine mandate then!”
As Fox News noted, since coming into office, Biden put the federal government in a “central role on pandemic mitigation measures”:
The Education Department opened civil rights probes into several states for banning school mask mandates. The president continues to mandate masks in airports, airplanes and on public transportation – and his administration increased fines for those who don’t comply.
And the administration is currently going to the Supreme Court to defend its vaccine mandate for any private businesses with more than 100 employees.
Ian Haworth is an Editor and Writer for The Daily Wire. Follow him on Twitter at @ighaworth.