The White House still will not give credit where it does not believe it is due regarding former President Donald Trump’s contributions to the country’s coronavirus pandemic response.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was pressed by NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander on Friday about President Biden’s decision to omit Trump from his first national address when hailing the swift development of multiple COVID-19 vaccines.
“There are clear steps that have been taken since the president took office that have put us on a trajectory that we were not on when he was inaugurated,” Psaki told him, referring to vaccine distribution logistics.
“And leadership starts at the top,” she said, mentioning mask-wearing.
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When Alexander followed up, Psaki conceded that the speedy development of three safe and effective vaccines “was a Herculean, incredible effort by science and by medical experts,” which the White House is “happy to applaud.” But there was no mention of Trump or his administration, despite Biden’s monthslong calls for national unity and a return to a state of bipartisan kumbaya that has not existed since some time before the 45th president’s term.
But Psaki was also adamant that Biden had already thanked his predecessor. And the purpose of his national address on Thursday was to “provide a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. Even so, Biden spent part of his speech looking backward, though with no acknowledgment of Trump.
“Americans are looking for facts. They’re looking for details. They’re looking for specifics. And I don’t think they’re worried too much about applause from six months ago when the president has already delivered that publicly,” she told reporters.
The White House is under pressure to give some credit to the Trump administration for the achievements of Operation Warp Speed. Aides, such as White House COVID response senior adviser Andy Slavitt, have said they would “absolutely tip my hat” to Trump’s team “for the work that came before us.” Others, including White House chief of staff Ron Klain, have partly dismissed that effort, repeating how Biden had “inherited a mess.”
When asked last week whether Trump was owed recognition, Psaki told ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce she didn’t “think anybody deserves credit when half a million people in this country have died of this pandemic.”
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During his 20-minute speech on Thursday, Biden announced he would direct states and territories to make all adults eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine by May 1. He had earlier announced that the necessary stockpile of shots would be available by the end of that month.
