Did President Joe Biden and his Administration make a mistake in not working harder and with more urgency in securing more free, at-home Covid tests for the American People?
Yes.
What makes this situation an improvement over the mistakes of the previous administration is that the Biden/Harris Team admits when they are wrong and launches efforts to correct the problem.
In an ABC Interview with David Muir, President Biden responded to Muir's question on whether his administration's response to the recent demand in testing was a failure by saying:
"No, I don't think it's a failure. You could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago. I've ordered 500 million test kits that are going to be available to be sent to every home in America that wants them. But the answer is yeah, I wish I had thought about ordering half a billion pills (tests) two months ago before COVID (the Omicron variant) hit here."
When pressed by Muir if his current actions have been "good enough," the President said:
"No, nothing's been good enough. But look, we're in a situation now where we have 200 million people fully vaccinated...and we have had more than that who have had one shot, at least one shot, and they're getting these booster shots as well."
If this had been Trump, he would done the interview with a Fox sycophant like Sean Hannity, have found several ways to deflect blame from himself, criticized the scientists in his administration for telling the truth about the science, and his failed efforts.
After incorrectly saying this was not a failure, Biden took responsibility for his failure to anticipate the need for more testing, when there were specialists in the know that knew it was necessary).
Trump would never have done this.
Biden went further in a virtual meeting with Governors and his COVID 19 response team on Monday, December 27, 2021, saying, according to CNN:
"It's not enough. It's clearly not enough. If we'd have known, we'd have gone harder, quicker if we could have." He said long testing lines over the Christmas weekend "shows that we have more work to do. We have to do more. We have to do better, and we will."
Again, Trump would never had said such words.
While President Biden is ultimately responsible for the actions and inactions of his administration, he and his team should be judged by how they responded to their errors and the efforts they took to correct them.
Having the President admit that errors were made and taking steps are positive signs in the right direction.
Time for a Testing Mandate for All Americans
During this meeting, Mr. Biden emphasized that the state governments would be the main drivers of helping contain and mitigate COVID 19, saying:
"There is no federal solution -- this gets solved at the state level. That ultimately gets down to where the rubber meets the road, and that's where the patient is in need of help -- or preventing the need for help. My message to the governors is simple: if you need something, say something. We're going to have your back in any way we can."
Honestly, this may be an unforced error on Biden's part. The remaining people who have not been vaccinated (mostly people that did not vote for the Biden/Harris Ticket) and the leaders that are enabling them (like Governor Kristi Noem in South Dakota, Governor Doug Ducey in Arizona, and Governor Ron DeSantis in Florida) will not reliably work tocontain the pandemic without a federal mandate shoved down their throats.
The President should recognize this now and institute a vaccine and testing mandate for all Americans. The ones who did not vote for him are not going to be happy one way or the other. But the voters who have supported the President will not make a fuss.
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