WASHINGTON (AP) – Marking a year of losses and interruptions, President Joe Biden will declare on Thursday the “next phase” of the country’s fight against coronavirus by sanctioning a $ 1.9 trillion aid package that, according to it, will help in defeating the US virus and help the economy back to health.
The signature will come hours before Biden makes his first prime-time speech since taking office. He aims to lead the nation towards a feeling of hunger – hope – as he marks a year since the start of the pandemic that killed more than 529,000 Americans.
Biden originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but he arrived at the White House more quickly than anticipated.
We want to act as quickly as possible, ”tweeted White House team chief Ron Klain. He added: “We will have our signature celebration on Friday, as planned, with Congressional leaders!”
Anticipating his comments, Biden said that “I would talk about what we went through as a nation last year, but more importantly, I will talk about what comes next”.
Biden’s challenge on Thursday night will be to honor the sacrifices made by the Americans during the past year, encouraging them to remain vigilant, despite the “virus fatigue” and the growing impatience to resume normal activities, given the tempting promise vaccines. Speaking on the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization’s pandemic declaration, he will mourn the dead, but will also project optimism about the future.
“This is a chance for him to really shine in everyone’s living room and be the mourning chief and explain how he is leading the country out of this,” said Rice University presidential historian and professor Douglas Brinkley.
“This is a great time,” added Brinkley. “He has to win hearts and minds so that people remain masked and get vaccinated, but also recognize that, after last year, the federal government has not forgotten you.”
Biden’s comments at night in the East Room are central to a crucial week for the president, as he addresses the defining challenge of his mandate: leading the nation through the economic and public health storms caused by the virus.
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released initial guidelines on how vaccinated people can resume some normal activities. On Wednesday, Congress approved the president’s $ 1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which aims to lessen the economic impact of the virus on tens of millions of people. And the country was on its way to administer its 100 millionth dose of vaccine as early as Thursday.
Biden said he will focus his comments on his government’s plans in the coming months, but also reiterated his call on Americans to continue to practice social detachment and to use facial covers to hasten the end of the pandemic.
“I will launch the next phase of COVID’s response and explain what we will do as a government and what we will ask the American people,” he said.
He added: “There is light at the end of this dark tunnel from last year. There are real reasons to hope. “
Almost exactly a year ago, President Donald Trump addressed the nation to mark the WHO’s declaration of a global pandemic. He announced travel restrictions and asked Americans to practice good hygiene, but showed little alarm about the coming catastrophe. Trump, it was later revealed, acknowledged that he was deliberately “minimizing” the threat of the virus.
For Biden, who promised to be honest with the American public after the alternate reality of the Trump virus conversation, the imperative is to find the right balance “between optimism and sadness,” said Princeton history professor and presidential scholar Julian Zelizer.
“Generally, the country likes optimism and, at this particular moment, they are desperate for optimism, but one cannot risk a ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment,” he said, warning against any premature declaration that the threat was defeated.
Fifty days after the start of his presidency, Biden is going through a voting honeymoon that his predecessor never enjoyed. However, public sentiment remains stubbornly polarized and fewer people among its critics seem willing to say they will give it a chance than in the case of previous presidents. Overall, he earned strong marks in his treatment of the pandemic.
According to a survey by the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center released last week, 70% of Americans support the Democratic president’s treatment of the response to the virus, including 44% of Republicans.
The White House hopes that as Biden takes on the role of cheerleader for the virus relief package, the elements of the $ 1.9 trillion bill that is popular with Republicans will further increase their support.
Brinkley said that Biden’s decision to deliver a speech addressed directly to the nation before giving the traditional presidential speech at a joint session of Congress signals that it is both a “presentation” of the president and his administration to the American people and a status report in his first 50 days in office.
Presidential speeches in Congress “tend to be a series of catchphrases,” said Brinkley. “That way, he can present his case directly.”
Still, prime-time speech is in many ways an anachronism, better suited to an era when Americans had far fewer television options and a presidential speech could reshape national conversation.
The fragmented media landscape makes it more difficult for Biden to reach people, said Zelizer, but that may be out of the question.
“All he’s doing is going backwards,” said Zelizer. “It is part of your effort to create normalcy after the past four years.”