The White House defended Joe Biden’s criticism of the Republican governors of Texas and Mississippi after the president called his decisions to end the mask terms of “Neanderthal thinking”.
Jen Psaki, press secretary of the White House, pointed out that the president compared the actions of governors to “the behavior of a Neanderthal, just to be clear, the behavior”. She also said that Biden’s comments were “a reflection of her frustration” about Americans not following public health guidelines to limit the risk of getting the coronavirus.
“I don’t think your opinion about wearing masks is a secret,” Psaki told Thursday’s briefing to the White House. “And I’m sure that when he talks to them next time, he will broadcast it directly.”
The President of the United States had said on Wednesday that the country was “on the verge of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease” with the distribution of vaccines and added: “The last thing we need is the Neanderthal to think that in the meantime , everything is fine. “
Texas Governor Greg Abbott reacted to Biden on Wednesday, telling CNBC that the comment “was not the kind of word a president should use.” Abbott, who has often been criticized for his anti-immigrant rhetoric, accused the president of “releasing illegal immigrants who had Covid in our communities”, calling it a “Neanderthal approach to dealing with the Covid situation”.
Responding to Abbott’s comments on Thursday, Psaki said, “We are talking about facts here. This is not factual. ”She added that it was also the responsibility of state and local governments to test and track.
Abbott appeared to be referring to recent reports from Telemundo, which found that some migrants released by the border patrol in Brownsville, Texas, subsequently tested positive for Covid-19. Since the city began testing in January, 108 migrants have tested positive, about 6% of all who have tested, the report said.
Abbott’s decision to reopen Texas and remove the mandate from the mask goes against the advice of the United States’ top health officials, who have repeatedly asked states not to completely lift Covid-19 restrictions by warning of a potential fourth increase in coronavirus cases fueled by new variants.
“We have been very clear that now is not the time to release all restrictions. The next two months are really crucial, ”said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Wednesday.
The president announced on Tuesday that the United States expects to have enough coronavirus vaccines for all adults by the end of May, two months ahead of schedule, as his government has announced that drugmaker Merck would help produce Johnson’s rival vaccine. & Johnson, approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week for emergency use.
But authorities in many states have eased restrictions, some far more than others. Abbott decided to suspend his state’s mask mandate and a number of other limitations, while Mississippi also terminated its mask mandate from Wednesday.
Michigan Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer has lowered capacity limits for restaurants and public and residential meetings. New York has announced that arts and entertainment can be resumed indoors, with 33% capacity, in April. In Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker said residents should continue to wear masks in public, but it was time for more limits for business to be eased.
Texas will be the most populous state in the United States, which does not require residents to wear facial coverings.
The mayor of the state’s largest city, Houston, disagreed with the measure. “It is a step in the wrong direction, unless the governor is trying to deflect what happened just over two weeks ago with the winter storm,” said Sylvester Turner, adding: “I am very disappointed … it makes no sense.”