Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday hit President Joe Biden for saying the COVID-19 pandemic was “over,” saying those comments did not align with his administration’s actions.
The Democratic president’s comments in an interview aired by CBS’ “60 Minutes” on Sunday reflected his thinking at a time where mask-wearing is uncommon and the disruptions from the pandemic are far less significant than they were at the outset.
Still, tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases and hundreds of new deaths continue to be reported daily across the country, something noted by those in the medical field who criticized Biden for downplaying the virus.
“The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it,” Biden said in the interview. “But the pandemic is over. If you notice, no one’s wearing masks. Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape.”
An administration official told CNN on Monday that Biden’s comments did not reflect a change in administration policy or a plan to lift the Public Health Emergency in place since January 2020. The White House similarly walked back comments from Biden in the same interview about defending a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
Collins, a Republican, noted that Americans had “increasingly” resumed their regular lives. But Biden’s statement called into question why his administration hasn’t revised many pandemic-era policies, she said, including by requiring federal employees to go back to the office in-person.
“The Biden Administration continues to exercise emergency powers and is currently requesting tens of billions of dollars in additional COVID-19 spending,” she said in a statement.
Rep. Jared Golden, a Democrat from Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, is more focused on lowering costs for residents of his district and his congressional duties than Biden’s comments, spokesperson Nick Zeller said.
“With vaccines and boosters widely available, hospitalizations down, and other public health signs pointing in the right direction, he and the vast majority of his constituents are glad to be back at work with fewer government restrictions in their lives,” Zeller said.
A spokesperson for independent Sen. Angus King declined comment on Biden’s remarks, while the office of Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine’s 1st District, did not respond to a request for comment.
