CNN ‘Reporter’ Gives Head-Spinning Explanation for Biden’s ‘No Federal Solution’ Admission – Opinion

We reported yesterday on President Biden’s politically convenient admission nearly a year after he took office and over a year after he promised to “shut down the virus” that there was “no federal solution” to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This gets solved at a state level,” he went on to say, stating a point that many Republicans including former President Trump have been making from the get-go, which they were in turn demonized over because they dared to think that anything being managed at the federal level was destined for failure because that’s really all the federal government knows how to do.

It was quite shocking that Biden finally spoke out, but some mainstream media sources tried to make it seem like Biden had been misunderstood.

CNN White House correspondent John Harwood, who is no stranger to carrying water for Democrats, appeared on the low-rated “New Day” program today where a discussion was taking place on Biden’s comments from yesterday. Fill-in anchor John Avlon pointed to Biden’s comments from his first day in office and compared them to what he said Monday. It was a clear flip flop, but Harwood – ever the Democrat apologist – didn’t see things that way:

Avlon:This statement was included in his initial COVID plan, which he published January. Quote, “For the past year, we could not turn to the federal government for a national plan to answer prayers with action until today.” Strong declaration. This is in contrast to what he stated yesterday. Have a look. (BEGIN VIDEO CROP)

Biden:There is not a federal solution. These problems are solved at the state level. I’m looking at Governor Sununu on the board here. That’s what he talks about. And it ultimately gets down to where the rubber meets the road, and that’s where the patient is in need of help or preventing the need for help. (END VIDEO CLIP).

Avlon:This is either a flip-flop or he rediscovering what federalism means to him. Because that’s actually where problems get solved.

[…]

Harwood:That was probably a throwaway quote from Biden. Biden seemed to be calling the governors. As Jeff Zients was saying, they’ve had 40 of these calls. This is because there’s interaction between federal and state governments.

Presidents often refer to states’ authority and the need for cooperation. I don’t think that he was actually signaling like, Oh, OK, it’s not my job anymore; it’s your job.

Because he went on to outline the things that he was trying to do to catch up to the testing problem, and acknowledging, as we’ve just been talking about, that we need to do better. But I think somewhat more has been made of that — of that little sort of polite beginning of the conversation than is warranted.

Watch:

Harwood also made a similar “point” on his Twitter feed:

Biden’s statement that “this gets resolved at a state-level” does not apply if you pretend ignorance.
–he was simply affirming NGA chair’s plea not to stifle “state solutions”
–it’s routine presidential “laboratories of democracy” talk
–he discussed federal action and “need to do better”

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) December 28, 2021

The big problem with Hardwood’s fantastical spin here is that literally, Nobody is saying the Feds have “no role.” What Republicans have said is that the role of the federal government can and should be limited in scope, because they realize that the people who best understand the needs of their state are officials at the local and state levels, not the federal level.

While the federal government is responsible for some oversight and coordination of supplies, it should also not be able to dictate how the State should respond in case of pandemic. That’s exactly what the Biden Administration did several months back when they chose to assume distribution of monoclonal anti-body treatments. It was an obvious insult at Governor. Ron DeSantis, and other governors from red states who supported the treatment.

Let’s not be too surprised that Harwood is attempting to ride to Biden’s rescue here, though, considering he crossed the line in 2015 while still a reporter at CNBC by playing favorites with the then-Democratic candidate for president Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair John Podesta on multiple occasions during her failed campaign:

John Harwood, CNBC’s chief economist, tweets misleading and critical views on the economy. Harwood’s exchanges with Podesta included gloating about his questions at a 2015 GOP primary debate, among many others 5/ https://t.co/v5MbbQN2tohttps://t.co/wT1fA8qwxu pic.twitter.com/RNnfenkCAJ

— James Hasson (@JamesHasson20) August 18, 2019

NYT & CNBC “journalist” John Harwood email to John Podesta wondering why so many want to interview Reptillary. pic.twitter.com/sem7szMtUO

— Dennis (@DL1651) October 19, 2016

And Harwood’s most recent article urged people to believe that “Biden’s struggles shouldn’t eclipse GOP’s year of dangerous falsehoods,” because obsessing about the Capitol riot is much more important than focusing on the fact that the current Oval Office occupant has been and likely will continue to be an epic failure no matter what he does.

Related:The Fox News Capitol Riot Texts: About Don Lemon/Brian Stelter Whineathon