President Joe Biden has a history of spreading misinformation about the coronavirus that spans years, making grandiose claims that vaccinated Americans would not contract the illness or spread the virus. It is a great irony, given that he has contracted the virus, and his wife, Jill Biden, tested positive for it for the second time on Monday. Both of them are vaccinated and boosted.
“This evening, the First Lady tested positive for COVID-19,” the first lady’s communications director, Elizabeth Alexander, said in a statement on Monday, adding that Jill Biden is “currently experiencing only mild symptoms” and staying at her home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
This marks the second time the first lady has tested positive for the virus, despite the fact that she is double vaccinated and twice boosted. She also tested positive for the virus in August 2022.
President Biden, who has also tested positive for the virus in the past, tested negative on Monday.
“Following the First Lady’s positive test for COVID-19, President Biden was administered a COVID test this evening,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. “The President tested negative. The President will test at a regular cadence this week and monitor for symptoms.”
The positive test for his wife comes after years of making false claims about coronavirus vaccines and their abilities.
During a CNN town hall event in July 2021, for example, Biden made the claim that “you’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.”
He said:
But again, one last thing. I — we don’t talk enough to you about this, I don’t think. One last thing that’s really important is: We’re not in a position where we think that any virus — including the Delta virus, which is much more transmissible and more deadly in terms of non — unvaccinated people — the vi- — the various shots that people are getting now cover that. They’re — you’re okay. You’re not going to — you’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations.
“Even CNN’s post-event panel criticized Biden’s claim, with Anderson Cooper saying it was ‘just obviously not the case,'” Breitbart News observed at the time.
Ironically, Biden contracted the virus one year after making that false claim.
Later that year, months after the CNN town hall, Biden spread more coronavirus misinformation, falsely claiming that vaccinated individuals do not spread the virus. That is patently false.
“Everybody talks about freedom about not to have a shot or have a test,” Biden said in a December 2021 interview. “Well guess what? How about patriotism? How about you make sure you’re vaccinated, so you do not spread the disease to anybody else? What about that? What’s the big deal?” he asked.
Biden also told News19 that “[T]hose who aren’t vaccinated are the ones that continue to spread the diseases,” seemingly blaming unvaccinated Americans solely for spreading the virus.
“This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Not the vaccinated, the unvaccinated. That’s the problem,” he added.
While Biden declared the pandemic “over” in September 2022, he said in August that he is planning to request more money from Congress to develop another coronavirus vaccine that everyone — even those who have already been vaccinated — can take.
“I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to the Congress, a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works,” Biden said, largely failing to address his false claims on coronavirus vaccines in the past.
This comes as some public health officials are courting masking yet again.
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Former President Donald Trump has contrasted himself with Biden, making it clear that Americans will “NOT COMPLY” with another push for lockdowns, mask mandates, or vaccine mandates.
“To every COVID tyrant who wants to take away our freedom, hear these words: We will not comply, so don’t even think about it,” Trump warned.
