The White House is increasingly taking aim at Republican governors who have relaxed COVID-19 restrictions, casting what President Joe Biden once described as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” as a pandemic of the red states.
This shift in tone comes as the pandemic’s resurgence takes a toll on Biden’s job approval ratings, dropping him below 50% in some national polls. His top two targets are Govs. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, chief executives of the two biggest red states and national symbols of a rival model for managing the virus, who have banned mandates for masks or vaccines.
“I say to these governors: Please help. But if you aren’t going to help, at least get out of the way,” Biden said in a speech about the latest wave of the pandemic on Tuesday. “The people are trying to do the right thing. Use your power to save lives.”
BIDEN SNAPS AT REPORTER WHO QUESTIONS MASK FLIP-FLOP
White House press secretary Jen Psaki used similar language at Tuesday’s briefing. “But if you aren’t going to help, if you aren’t going to abide by public health guidance, then get out of the way and let people do the right thing to lead in their communities, whether they are teachers, university leaders, private sector leaders, or others who are trying to save lives,” she told reporters.
“Florida is not the only state; seven states have both a statewide ban on mask mandates and a prohibition on school districts from requiring masks in schools,” Psaki said when asked about DeSantis. “And some states have even banned businesses and universities from requiring workers and students to be vaccinated. In fact, the most extreme of these measures is in Texas, where you can be fined — a professor or teacher can be fined if they ask a student if they are vaccinated or if they ask unvaccinated students to wear masks.”
Texas and Florida have a combined population of 50 million people, giving them outsize influence on national COVID-19 trends.
“[Twenty-three percent] of new COVID hospitalizations in the U.S are in Florida, and their hospitals are being overwhelmed again,” Psaki tweeted on Wednesday. She asked DeSantis to “join us in this fight.”
Biden’s sharp criticism of Republican governors comes as Southern states with mediocre vaccination rates have seen increasing caseloads with the rise of the highly contagious delta variant. In addition to a reluctance to impose mandates on masks and vaccines, these states tend to have large numbers of rural conservative whites and predominantly Democratic black voters, two demographics most skeptical of the vaccines.
The president’s change in tone has been described as a necessary adjustment to Republican intransigence on COVID-19. One official told CNN that certain GOP governors “are putting their political interests ahead of public health,” forcing Biden to speak out.
Yet, Biden has political interests of his own. His approval rating in a recent Quinnipiac poll hit 47%, in line with his 48% showing in Rasmussen. An Economist/YouGov poll put him at 49%. The RealClearPolitics polling average finds 50.7% approve of his job performance, a tick above his 50% in a recent Gallup tracking poll.
While these numbers are mostly driven by other issues on which he is less popular, public support for Biden’s handling of COVID-19, long an area of political strength, is also down. The Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday found his pandemic approval down to 53% from 65% in May when the rollout of the vaccines improved both the virus numbers and the public outlook.
Biden, similar to former President Donald Trump last year, now faces criticism about whether he prematurely declared victory over the virus as the vaccines began to flow. He maintains that rather than a “Mission Accomplished” moment, his shifts on masks and other mitigation measures reflect his commitment to following the evolving science.
Abbott and especially DeSantis are also floated as possible 2024 challengers to Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris if the incumbent, who would be 81 years old, does not seek a second term. DeSantis hit back on Wednesday.
“Joe Biden has taken to himself to try to single out Florida over COVID,” the governor said. “Why don’t you do your job? Why don’t you get this border secure? And until you do that, I don’t wanna hear a blip about COVID from you, thank you.”
Florida and Texas, as well as other Republican-led states, have periodically found their approach to the pandemic hammered as reckless even when their caseloads and deaths per capita have compared favorably to blue states like Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s New York. But the current trends are unfavorable, putting their economic reopening on trial.
Last year, Biden won voters who prioritized containing the virus over reopening the economy by 60 points. Trump won those who preferred economic rebuilding by 58 points, according to exit polls.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE IN THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
But now, Biden needs the reopening to continue, as his claims of record economic growth and recent job gains rely on the loosening of pandemic restrictions.
“In the meantime, more vaccinations and mask wearing in the areas most impacted by the Delta variant will enable us to avoid the kind of lockdowns, shutdowns, school closures, and disruptions we faced in 2020,” he said in a statement. “Unlike 2020, we have both the scientific knowledge and the tools to prevent the spread of this disease. We are not going back to that.”
