Washington Post hits Biden for claim that 'pandemic is over': 'We are not there yet'

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Biden's first interview in 7 months: 'The pandemic is over'

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy reports from the North Lawn on a rapidly-changing rhetoric on COVID-19 coming from the Biden administration on 'Special Report.'

The Washington Post editorial board called out President Biden on Monday for his claim that the pandemic "is over" and said "we are not there yet." 

"But before rushing out to the ticker-tape parade, sit down. The pandemic is still raging — in the sense that a dangerous virus is infecting, sickening and killing people, mutating to survive and haunting the globe," the editorial board wrote, adding that a return to normalcy did not mean the pandemic was over. 

The editorial added the reason for Biden's comments was "obvious."

"The midterm elections are coming, and Americans feel an overwhelming sense of fatigue," the board said. 

The Washington Post building in Washington D.C.  (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo)

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CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley asked Biden during the interview if the pandemic was over. 

"The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it," Biden responded while walking through the Detroit auto show. 

"If you notice, no one's wearing a mask, everybody seems to be in pretty good shape," Biden added. 

Biden was also asked about running for re-election in 2024 and about whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan. 

President Biden was called out by the Washington Post editorial board for declaring the pandemic to be over. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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"But the pandemic is surely not over. The seven-day moving average of daily deaths in the United States is nearly 400 and has plateaued at this terrible level since April. The average of new daily cases is 60,000, way higher than in the spring," the editorial board wrote.

Washington Post columnist and CNN analyst Leana Wen wrote in a column published on Monday that the president was "right," but added that it did not mean COVID-19 was still not causing harm.

"Perhaps the biggest worry stemming from Mr. Biden’s comment is that it will further undermine political resolve in Congress to keep up the fight against covid. Already, Mr. Biden’s request for additional funding for vaccines, diagnostic testing and therapeutics has languished. If complacency and fatigue continue to take over, the nation won’t be prepared for a new variant just when it is most needed," the editorial board argued.

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U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a rally hosted by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) at Richard Montgomery High School on August 25, 2022 in Rockville, Maryland.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The authors concluded that while the claim that the pandemic is over "sounds nice" and "so desperately welcome," the U.S. was not there yet.

Many on the left criticized the president for his claim during the "60 Minutes" interview. MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan said, "one of the (many) reasons [people] are not wearing masks is because people like Biden keep (falsely) telling them the pandemic is over."

Some conservatives, on the other hand, wondered why Biden was still using his COVID-19 emergency powers if he felt the pandemic was over. 

"If ‘the pandemic is over’ as Biden says, then all of the President's emergency powers predicated on a pandemic, all COVID vax mandates, the emergency powers of every governor, Emergency Use Authorizations, and the PREP act should all be voided tomorrow," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said.