Still got that mask on, Joe? Biden ignores new CDC guidelines to wear mask outside as he spends Sunday at church and then golf after week of inflation fears and Middle East violence
President Joe Biden spent his Sunday in Wilmington, Del., where he went to church and played a round of golf as his administration faces a number of challenges both at home and abroad.
President Joe Biden spent his Sunday in Wilmington, Del., where he went to church and played a round of golf
Biden, who was originally scheduled to return to the White House on Sunday evening, changed his schedule to go back to Washington Monday morning. No explanation was given for the change.
The president is dealing with worries about the economy and the threat of rising inflation, a division among Democrats over violence in Israel, and mass confusion over the country's face mask rules.
Biden, himself, donned a face mask to go to church after a new CDC policy said that fully vaccinated Americans do not have to wear masks outdoors and in most indoor settings, aside from crowded places such as buses and planes.
The president celebrated the new guidelines by going maskless in the White House Rose Garden on Thursday.
'If you're fully vaccinated, take your mask off. You've earned the right to do something that Americans are known for all around the world, greeting others with a smile,' he said at the time.
But, on Sunday, Biden exited the St. Joseph on the Brandywine Church wearing a dark face mask and carrying a newspaper.
Later Sunday afternoon he went to the Fieldstone Golf Club about 10 minutes from his home in Wilmington.
President Biden heads to his motorcade after departing St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church; he later went to the Fieldstone Golf Club about 10 minutes from his home
President Biden checks out the newspaper as he departs church on Sunday
President Biden wore a face mask; a new CDC policy on face mask announced last week left many Americans confused on the issue
President Biden changed his schedule to spend Sunday night in Wilmington; he'll return to the White House on Monday morning
Despite the new policy from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention some businesses still require face coverings and many states have not changed their own policies, leaving vaccinated Americans to wonder whether or not to mask up.
CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Sunday the order change came because the science has 'really just evolved' regarding how protected vaccinated people are from getting COVID-19.
'We now have science that has really just evolved even in the last two weeks that demonstrates that these vaccines are safe, they are effective,' she said on ABC's This Week.
She did not address the confusion over the face mask issue and, instead, said most decisions on the matter would be made at the 'community level.'
'We want to deliver the science of the individual level, but we also understand that these decisions have to be made at the community level,' Walensky noted.
Meanwhile, Americans are facing high unemployment, rising prices, and gas lines - scenes that haven't been seen since the 1970s when Jimmy Carter was president.
April saw disappointing jobs numbers and fears of inflation have started to worry administration officials as the economy struggles to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Biden administration is dealing with fears of inflation and rising gas prices - above a long line of cars waits for gas at a Costco in Atlanta
Biden also faces divisions among Democrats in regards to the violence in Israel - above a ball of fire erupts from a building in Gaza City's Rimal residential district
Cecilia Rouse, the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers said Friday that mismatch between supply and demand due to the pandemic and the economic snap-back had pushed inflation higher.
She said the situation was temporary.
'I fully expect that will work itself out in the coming months,' she said.
Republicans, meanwhile, are arguing now is not the time for a tax hike - either on corporations or the wealthy.
Biden wants to raise taxes on corporations to pay for his $2.3 trillion American Jobs Plan - with its focus on infrastructure - and raise taxes on the wealthy to help pay for his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan with its focus on social programs.
'You won't find any Republicans who are gonna go raise taxes. I think that's the worst thing you can do in this economy,' House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy said Thursday after a meeting with Biden in the Oval Office.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who was also at the meeting, agreed, saying Republicans were 'not interested' in retracting Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, which is part of Biden's proposal.
'We both made that clear to the president. That's our red line,' McConnell said.
Biden is also facing a division among his Democrats over the violence in the Middle East.
The conflict between Israel and Palestine entered its seventh day with renewed strikes from Tel Aviv. The attacks that have left 174 Palestinians dead, including 47 children. In Israel, 10 people have been killed in total, including two children, with barrages of rockets fired from Gaza.
As Biden takes the traditional stance of supporting Israel, progressives are calling for a more activist role for the US and claimed the White House is ignoring human rights violations from its longtime ally.
Senator Bernie Sanders went even further, urging the Biden administration to stop being an apologist for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
'Over more than a decade of his right-wing rule in Israel, Mr. Netanyahu has cultivated an increasingly intolerant and authoritarian type of racist nationalism,' he wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times.
'We can no longer be apologists for the right-wing Netanyahu government and its undemocratic and racist behavior. We must change course and adopt an evenhanded approach, one that upholds and strengthens international law regarding the protection of civilians, as well as existing U.S. law holding that the provision of U.S. military aid must not enable human rights abuses,' he wrote.
During a call on Saturday, Biden told Netanyahu he continues to support Israel's right to defend itself but expressed concern over deaths on both sides.
'He raised concerns about the safety and security of journalists and reinforced the need to ensure their protection,' the White House said.
Biden also reaffirmed the United States 'strong support for Israel's right to defend itself against rocket attacks from Hamas' in his call with Netanyahu.
Liberals like Senator Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are encouraging the Biden administration to be more active in the Middle East and speak out against human rights abuses
And Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised the issue in a speech on the House floor on Friday.
'Do Palestinians have a right to survive?' she asked. 'Do we believe that? And if so, we have a responsibility to that as well.'
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