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Psaki Defends Biden After He Gives False Information About COVID Testing

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


Remember when the press used to accuse President Donald Trump of lying all the time? Somehow when Biden appears to lie more than he ties his shoes, however, he simply “misspeaks.”

On Friday the president spoke to reporters with a hoarse throat which, White House press secretary Jen Psaki admitted, is a symptom of COVID.

Biden explained that he got the cold from his grandson, but he also gave another piece of important, and apparently false, information.

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy noticed that the president did not sound like his normal self as he gave a speech and then answered questions from the press.

“First of all, Mr. President, your voice sounds a little different. Are you Ok?” the White House correspondent said.

“I’m OK,” the president said. “I have a test every day to see .. a COVID test … I have been checking for all the strains.

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“What I have is a 1 & 1/2-year-old grandson who had a cold who likes to kiss his pop. He’d be kissing my, anyway…But it’s just a cold.”

But when asked later Psaki admitted that Biden did not tell the entire truth.

“In the President’s remarks earlier today, when he was asked about his cold, he said that he was te- — he is being tested daily for COVID-19. My understanding was that it was done with less frequency of that. I know Dr. O’Connor said that he was tested three times this week, but is there a change in protocol where he is going to be tested daily? And what kind of test is he getting: antigen or PCR test?” a reporter said to Psaki.

“Yeah, I think we just put out some details from Doc O’Connor that outlines how many times he’s been tested and, I believe, the kind of tests that he received. He received those tests because he had a cold, which would be considered a symptom and — but it’s not a change in protocol,” the press secretary said.

“And so he is not going to be tested daily?” the reporter followed up to which Psaki replied, “No.”

But Psaki was not done getting peppered by reporters over what Biden falsely claimed.

“Just to clarify: The President did say he was tested every day for COVID, so did he just misspeak there?” CBS News Senior White House Correspondent Weijia Jiang said.

“Well, I think, Weijia — I would point you to the transparent note we put out from the doctor to all of you that outlines how many times he was tested and exactly what he was tested for,” the press secretary said.

That was followed by Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy who continued the line of questioning.

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“One more topic, to follow up on some of the questions from earlier. The President was hoarse and coughing today. A lot of people in the workforce are encouraged not to go to work if they are exhibiting those symptoms, even if they are fully vaccinated. So, are the rules different for the President?” he said.

“The President, again, was tested, as we put out in some — in a transparent piece of information from his doctor, where he received a response quickly from that test, enable him — enabling him to proceed. People also had — he had a cold, which is what you know from the information put out by the doctor,” Psaki said.

“But as you know from your own experience, it is possible to test negative several times before there’s a positive test. So is there any concern about having him at work while he’s got these symptoms, even if he is showing negative tests?” the reporter said.

“I can assure you that the President follows every protocol. He wants to keep everyone safe in the White House. And that’s why, obviously, he — we consult with the doctor and we put out that information to make it available to all of you,” she said.

Every protocol other than staying home from work when you have symptoms apparently.

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