In his first joint interview with Kamala Harris as President-elect, Joe Biden said he will make a plea to every American to mask up for the first hundred days of his administration to combat coronavirus and he promised to urge Congress to send more aid to struggling Americans and cash-strapped states.
When he takes the same oath of office next month, Joe Biden will effectively beseech the nation to do exactly the same thing, if in more prosaic terms, with an appeal for every American to wear a mask for his first, symbolic 100 days in office.
In another sign of a fresh approach to the pandemic, Biden said in the interview he had asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, who Trump has marginalized and insulted, to continue his current role as the nation’s top infectious diseases specialist in Biden’s administration and announced an effective promotion for the globally respected expert.
“I asked him to stay on the exact same role he’s had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well, and be part of the Covid team,” Biden told Tapper, in a gesture that implies a return to continuity and science based policy-making after Trump’s wild presidency.
That’s the really complicated piece,” Biden said, noting that governors and mayors told him they need far more financial assistance to get the vaccine delivered, which he described as “an incredibly expensive proposition. “
But we’re going to need a lot more” once in office, Biden said.
The President-elect noted that the Trump administration has been “cooperating with us of late” and looping them in on the plans for how they are going to deliver on the vaccine, but he said, “There’s not any help getting out there. “
“What’s immediately needed is relief for people in their unemployment checks; relief for people who are going to get thrown out of their apartments after Christmas because they can’t afford to pay the rent anymore; relief on mortgage payments; relief on all the things that are in the original bill the House passed,” Biden said.
“President-elect Biden, and his leadership and listening to scientists, believe that if we all wore our masks for 100 days, we would have a significant reduction in the transmission of the virus,” said Rick Bright, a former Trump administration vaccine expert who resigned after warning the administration ignored warnings about the early spread of Covid-19.
While Biden and Harris had differences on an array of issues when she was running for president — from their health care plans to her desire to see the Justice Department prosecute Trump after he leaves office — she and Biden showed their policy alignment during the interview, which also offered some clues into her role and portfolio as vice president.
Biden told Tapper that his Justice Department will operate independently, and that he would not direct them on how or who to investigate: “I’m not going to be saying go prosecute A, B or C — I’m not going to be telling them,” Biden said.
When Tapper asked Harris what her portfolio would be as vice president — whether she would head a Covid-19 task force, for example, as Vice President Mike Pence has — Biden interrupted to say he would answer the question.
“Whatever the most urgent need is that I’m not able to attend to, I have confidence in turning to her,” Biden said, noting that was dissimilar from former Vice President Al Gore’s approach, which was to handle an entire issue portfolio like the environment.
