CNN correspondent Jeff Zeleny called President Biden “confused” over COVID-19 testing on Wednesday, referring to his performance in an ABC interview aired earlier in the evening.
Biden frequently misspoke in an interview with ABC’s David Muir when referring to 500 million at-home coronavirus test orders that the administration ordered to distribute to the American population. He called them “pills” and did not take responsibility for his administration’s inability to have enough tests to handle the anticipated winter surge of the virus.
“Repeatedly throughout the interview, President Biden seemed confused and was confusing half a million tests that they ordered with half a trillion pills. After Wolf Blitzer had played a clip, Zeleny stated that pills were in today’s news with the approval by Pfizer of the antiviral.
Zeleny said, “But then, simply this administration and the president leading this charge here, really not taking any responsibility at all for the lack of testing.” We’ve seen the images all over the country, the long lines, and the inability to get tested. Although omicron arrived quickly, it’s been nearly a month since Thanksgiving when they realized this was coming.
Zeleny pointed out that Biden stated he wishes he had acted sooner, but that there was no sense that the administration would send the ordered tests to the public in January, as the latter suggested.
Biden was criticized for not testing the virus, and some called him “behind-the-times” considering the rapid spread of the virus in recent weeks.
Biden was asked by reporters earlier this week about the inability to obtain coronavirus testing. Some wondered if his administration failed to ensure sufficient supplies given the rising demand and rise in the omicron variant.
Biden said that the virus wasn’t spreading rapidly and that there was no failure. On Wednesday, however, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky told Fox News’s Bret Baier, that the increase in cases was exactly what they had anticipated.
