Reporters Move Past COVID-19

President Biden brought up the coronavirus pandemic as he began his news conference Thursday, saying he was doubling his vaccination goal for the first 100 days of his term. If he hadn't mentioned COVID-19, apparently no one would have; not one of the questions from reporters concerned the pandemic, the Hill reports. In answering a question about getting his program through Congress, Biden said he hopes to address the nation's most pressing issues one at a time. "I got elected to solve problems and the most urgent problem facing the American people, I stated from the outset, was COVID-19 and the economic dislocation for millions and millions of Americans," he said. "The other problems we’re talking about from immigration to guns and the other things you mentioned are long-term problems."

Biden's chief of staff noticed the lack of interest, per the Huffington Post. Ron Klain retweeted a post from a former Obama administration staff member: "What a ridiculous failure by the press corps to focus on the issue that the vast majority of Americans care about most." A New York Times reporter posted that the lack of questions indicates "coronavirus is no longer Topic A," which Klain reposted with the commentary: "Pretty sure it is for the American people and the Biden WH." Maybe Peter Doocy would have asked about COVID-19. But Biden didn't call on the Fox News correspondent, per Deadline. He took questions from reporters for the AP, PBS, the Washington Post, ABC News, the Wall Street Journal, NBC News, CBS News, CNN, Bloomberg, and Univision. (More President Biden stories.)