White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday that it is unfair to say that President Biden described his predecessor’s travel ban because of the coronavirus as “xenophobic”, despite statements that indicated that this was from their vision of this policy.
“I don’t think it’s a very fair articulation,” she told Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who reiterated Biden’s use of the term “xenophobic”. Doocy’s comment came shortly after the White House announced a ban on South African travel coronavirus.
“The president made it clear that he felt that the ban on Muslims was xenophobic,” said Psaki. “He lifted the Muslim ban. He also supported measures, travel restrictions to keep the American people safe, to ensure that we are controlling the pandemic. This has been part of his policy, but he criticized the former president for having a policy that it was not more comprehensive than travel restrictions ”.
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Psaki’s response echoed previous denials of then-candidate Biden’s allegations during the presidential race, as former President Trump referred to the ban as evidence of successful policies.
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At the time Trump announced China’s ban last year, Biden accused Trump’s “xenophobia” without explicitly referring to it. In a later tweet, however, he responded directly to one of Trump’s posts publicizing the ban.
“Stop the spread of xenophobic fear,” tweeted Biden. “Be honest. Take responsibility. Do your job.”