During an interview with CBS News, Vice President Kamala Harris said that it is not the “moment to talk about fault” as COVID-19 cases surge across the country from the new Omicron variant.
“Is it the fault of the unvaccinated?” CBS News host Margaret Brennan asked.
“I don’t think this is a moment to talk about fault,” Harris responded. “It is no one’s fault that this virus hit our shores or hit the world. But it is more about individual power and responsibility and it’s about the decisions that everyone has the choice to make.”
Harris’ comments mark a change in messaging as President Biden has previously blamed the pandemic on the unvaccinated.
“This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Biden said in September. “And it’s caused by the fact that despite America having an unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get the shot.”
Harris’ comments also contradict Biden’s claims ahead of the 2020 presidential election when he repeatedly blamed then-President Trump for the impact of the virus.
During an NBC Town Hall in October 2020, for example, then-presidential candidate Biden said that Trump was responsible for the Americans who died from COVID-19 and that he should take responsibility. Biden posted the video clip from the Town Hall on Facebook with the caption, “More than 200,000 Americans have died. 50,000 Americans are getting the virus every day. 1,000 a day are dying. This is a national emergency…The President should take responsibility.”
More Americans have now died of COVID-19 under President Biden’s watch than under former President Trump’s, which could be the reasoning behind the change in messaging.
