Joe Concha: Biden address on COVID was filled with lies
President Joe Biden takes credit for progress on coronavirus vaccines that was initiated by Trump in Operation Warp Speed. Fox News contributor Joe Concha weighs in on 'Fox & Friends First.'
Critics have mocked the coronavirus vaccination timeline laid out by President Biden Thursday night, with everyone from pundits to satirical website The Onion chiming in on his stated goal of a return to small social gatherings with close family by Independence Day.
Biden, who also vowed all Americans would become eligible to receive a vaccine by May 1, raised eyebrows by adding that intimate gatherings could be allowed two months later.
Journalist Tim Miller questioned Biden’s messaging, stating Americans should be working toward a return to normalcy, not tiny gatherings.
"I think in the grand scheme of things as long as progress keeps happening in [sic] will accrue to Biden’s benefit and the particulars won’t matter much," Miller tweeted. "But shouldn’t we be working towards outdoor community gatherings (baseball/beaches/fireworks!) 7/4 not just close family?"
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National Review correspondent John McCormack posited in response that Biden is simply keeping expectations to a minimum for political purposes.
"Worst part is that Biden prefaced this allegedly ambitious goal by saying 'you're owed nothing less than the truth,'" McCormack wrote. "The truth is that it has always been safe for small numbers of people to gather outdoors. He's setting a low bar for political reasons."
"I celebrated July 4 last year with a large group of unmasked people and will be doing the same this year no matter what the president says," conservative pundit Matt Walsh tweeted.
The reliably liberal Onion even mocked the president with the headline, "Biden Announces Americans Will Be Able To Do What They Did At Christmas By July 4."
Not to be outdone, the satirical Babylon Bee also mocked Biden’s promise to allow "limited freedoms."
The speech was fawned over by the mainstream media, with Politico Playbook declaring, "Last night is why Joe Biden won the presidency," and CNN’s John Hardwood showering the "unity speech" with praise.
But viewers who don’t align with the liberal media had different thoughts.
"If every willing person in America is vaccinated for #COVID19 by May, as POTUS has said, why put our lives on hold till July the 4th?" Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, wrote Friday on Twitter.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., echoed his statement.
"If you’re waiting for permission from the chief executive to celebrate Independence Day with your family, you clearly don’t grasp the concept of Independence," Massie wrote on Twitter.
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Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro claimed Biden's announcement was less impressie than it seemed.
"Once again, President Houseplant is running out in front of a moving parade and then claiming he is leading it. This was going to happen already," Shapiro tweeted Thursday.
On Friday, White House chief of staff, Ron Klain tweeted a photo of the New York Times' front page headline about the Fourth of July goal with the message: "What we are working toward." Klain's tweet was quickly mocked:
Fox News’ Evie Fordham contributed to this report.
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