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Monday, November 29, 2021
11:45 AM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks to provide an update on the Omicron variant
Roosevelt Room
2:00 PM THE PRESIDENT meets with the CEOs of companies in a variety of sectors to discuss the holiday shopping season and his Administration’s work to move goods to shelves
EOP Library, Pool Spray at the Top
3:45 PM THE PRESIDENT delivers remarks on his Administration’s work to strengthen the nation’s supply chains, lower everyday costs for families, and ensure that shelves are well-stocked this holiday season
South Court Auditorium
Briefing Schedule
1:00 PM Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki
Thursday, December 2, 2021
The President will visit the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and deliver remarks on his Administration’s plan to continue the fight against COVID-19 as we enter the winter months and face the Omicron variant.
Friday, December 3, 2021
The President will deliver remarks on the November jobs report.
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MS. PSAKI: Hi, everyone.
Q Good afternoon.
MS. PSAKI: I’ve got no opening statement or guests with me, so I will take your questions now. It is a busy news day at the beginning of what promises to be a busy news week. Peter?
Q Jen, thanks. I hope you had a great holiday. Monday morning
Portuguese health authorities said they have identified 13 cases of omicron, the new coronavirus variant believed to be more contagious, among team members of a professional soccer club.
The Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute said Monday that one of those who tested positive at the Lisbon-based Belenenses soccer club had recently traveled to South Africa, where the omicron variant was first identified.
The others, however, had not traveled to South Africa, indicating that this may be one of the very first cases of local transmission of the virus outside of southern Africa.
What is the White House going to do about that here at home?
MS. PSAKI (real): You heard the President this morning. He and his team are all over this challenge. The American people can have confidence that the government will get this under control, exactly as we did with the previous versions of this deadly virus.
MS. PSAKI (real real): We are going to create the appearance of being all over this daily until the scientists figure out what is actually happening. The chief of staff says “This is nothing — or this is everything.” That pretty much sums it up.
Other Peter?
Q Thanks, Jen. On “Face the Nation,” Dr. Fauci seemed to open the door to new mandates and lockdowns, saying the Americans should be ready to do, quote, "anything and everything" to fight the spread of this new variant. He said it is "too early to say" whether such steps will be necessary.
Should the American people be prepared for more lockdowns and mandates from this administration?
MS. PSAKI (real): Dr. Fauci was properly speaking to his admiration for the American people – which the President shares – and their willingness to work together to combat this pandemic. Next question?
MS. PSAKI (real real): More mandates would kill us politically. Trump World hates Fauci, so we love Fauci. But, yeah, no, we are going to have to figure this out without mandates. Unless it is really bad. In which case, get ready for a lot of new fights with Ron DeSantis. Emily?
Q Also on Dr. Fauci and “Face,” he was asked about criticism from Senator Cruz, who suggested the doctor should be investigated for some of the statements he has made about the pandemic, to which Dr. Fauci said “I should be prosecuted? What happened on Jan. 6, senator?” Does the President think that that is a proper reply, that Dr. Fauci should be jousting like that with members of Congress?
MS. PSAKI (real): The White House has full confidence in Dr. Fauci. Senator Cruz should get a life.
MS. PSAKI (real real): The White House has full confidence in Dr. Fauci. Senator Cruz should get a life. Pam?
Q. Good afternoon, Jen. Zeynep Tufekci wrote in the New York Times today about the danger of governments like the U.S. engaging in what she calls “pandemic theatrics” – policies meant to soothe politically but not really do anything to address the problems, guided by science and data.
Let me read you some of what she wrote:
The travel ban from several southern African countries announced by President Biden on Friday exempts American citizens and permanent residents, other than requiring them to be tested. But containment needs to target the pathogen, not the passports. As a precaution, travel should be restricted for both foreign nationals and U.S. citizens from countries where the variant is known to be spreading more widely until we have more clarity.
We need stricter testing regimes involving multiple tests over time and even quarantine requirements for all travelers according to the incubation period determined by epidemiological data. We also need more intensive and widespread testing and tracing to cut off the spread of the variant. This means finally getting the sort of mass testing program that the United States has avoided and which has been part of successful responses to Covid in other countries.
If we aren’t willing to do all that, there is little point in a blanket ban on a few nationalities.
Jen, is this President engaged in “pandemic theatrics” with his speech today and the reaction so far?
MS. PSAKI (real): I have the greatest respect for Zeynep Tufekci, but, no, the President and his team have been on this latest variant from the beginning and we will stay on it, with real policies that match the need, driven, as you said, by the science and the data.
MS. PSAKI (real real): If “pandemic theatrics” includes tap dancing while we wait to learn more, I’d say that that is a pretty good description of what we are doing so far. Saul?
Q The Washington Post says your team is looking at booster shots as the centerpiece of how to combat this new strain. Is that true?
MS. PSAKI (real): Certainly, we think every American, regardless for whom they voted in the last election, should get fully vaccinated, and that includes boosters. Vaccines are safe, free, and effective, and the scientists say they work well against the disease.
MS. PSAKI (real real): As my old boss Rahm likes to say, never waste a crisis. 2022 and 2024 depend on getting this darn thing under control. That means more shots in arms. Over there.
Q Thanks, Jen. The Iran nuclear talks have started back up in Vienna. The Wall Street Journal news section frames it this way:
Has Tehran advanced its nuclear work so much in the past two years that the 2015 deal can no longer be rescued?
Your State Department colleague Ned Price last week expressed some pessimism, saying, “We’ll see in the coming days what exactly…But we’ve also been very clear that this is not a process that can go on indefinitely.”
Skeptics, such as the Wall Street Journal ed board, speaking for the even more skeptical, says the only deal the West can get is one that will be “even weaker than Mr. Obama’s.” What should the American people expect to come out of these talks?
MS. PSAKI (real): Let’s not prejudge the situation. Our team on the ground in Vienna is working closely with our allies, and the Iranians should be under no illusions here. Let’s see what happens this week.
MS. PSAKI (real real): I love John Kerry, but this thing is a friggin’ mess. Even some Israelis military leaders are acknowledging we should have stayed in the deal. For just this once, simply saying, “See, Trump was wrong,” is not going to solve the problem. Is the Daily Caller here? Let’s spread the love around.
Q Thanks, Jen. Going back to the Wall Street Journal news pages -- they wrote this in the context of these doomed so-called nuclear negotiations:
The troubled nuclear talks add to a growing list of foreign-policy problems for Mr. Biden as he approaches the end of his first year in office. Tensions with China remain high and Washington has been voicing growing concerns about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine amid rifts with some European capitals over the exit from Afghanistan and the new security pact with Australia and Britain.
What would you say are the President’s main foreign policy successes so far?
MS. PSAKI (real): Oh, too numerous to mention here in full. But China, Russia, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Europe. Most of all, the world knows that after the last disastrous administration, AMERICA IS BACK!
MS. PSAKI (real real): Next question? There.
Q December will see the White House and your congressional allies dealing with a potential government shutdown, the defense bill, Build Back Better, the China competitiveness bill, and possibly the debt ceiling. How will you get all this done by Christmas? And will you work with Republicans on any of it?
MS. PSAKI (real): We will work closely with Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer to get it all done for the American people.
MS. PSAKI (real real): By Christmas? Uhm, no. Half by New Year’s Day, half by the State of the Union address. If we are lucky and good. Kaitlan, you’ve been very patient.
Q Jen, the Supreme Court is going to be hearing arguments on abortion on Wednesday. The A.P. says there is “there’s no middle ground,” that quote “the justices can either reaffirm the constitutional right to an abortion or wipe it away altogether.” What would the President tell the Justices to do?
MS. PSAKI (real): The White House respects the Court as a co-equal branch. At the same time, the President throughout his career in public service has been a staunch champion of a woman’s right to choose and control her own reproductive freedom and it would be a national tragedy if that were curtailed.
MS. PSAKI (real real): If they really overturn Roe, the civil wars of the last few years will seem mild. We will have a lot more to say about this in the coming weeks and months if the Court goes that way. Peter?
Q Jen, there’s a book out this week about Hunter Biden and his laptop. What does the White House have to say about….
MS. PSAKI (real): These old, false stories have been out there for over a year now. The American people made their judgments in the last election, and the whole country is ready to move on….
Q But one of the points of the book is that the media, including social media, blocked the American people from learning the facts, and that is still….
MS. PSAKI (real real): As long as this stays confined to right-wing media, we are all good, Peter. We have a plan in place just in case this jumps, Swift Boat-style, to the Dominant Media. Next?
Q Jen, what will the White House be saying this week about the court cases of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jussie Smollett?
MS. PSAKI (real): As the President said the other day in a different context, “The jury system works, and we have to abide by it.”
MS. PSAKI (real real): No cameras in either courtroom, thank the Lord. Mark? Nice to see you in town today. Take the last question.
Q Have you seen this Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sara Bareilles, and others honoring Stephen Sondheim with a Times Square popup performance?
For all the latest news all the time, check out the 24/7 website the Walking Duck.
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