Joe Biden Hones a Complicated Midterm Election Message
Attacks on MAGA Republicans compete with substance for voters' attention.
Mehdi Hasan, host of MSNBC's "The Mehdi Hasan Show," reacted to a clip of President Biden saying during an interview with CBS News' Scott Pelley that the COVID-19 "pandemic is over."
"One of the (many) reasons they’re not wearing masks is because people like Biden keep (falsely) telling them the pandemic is over," Hasan tweeted in response to the "60 Minutes" interview with Biden.
Pelley asked the president if the COVID-19 pandemic was over while walking through the Detroit Auto show.
"The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We're still doing a lot of work on it," Biden said. "If you notice, no one's wearing a mask, everybody seems to be in pretty good shape and so I think it's changing, and this is a perfect example of it."
CRITICS FLOOD TWITTER AFTER BIDEN DECLARES COVID-19 PANDEMIC: ‘IRRESPONSIBLE AND MISLEADING’
President Biden joined CBS News' Scott Pelley for an interview that aired on Sunday. (Screenshot/CBSNews/60Minutes)
Pelley also asked the president if he would be running for re-election in 2024.
"Look, if I were to say to you, ‘I’m running again,’ all of a sudden, a whole range of things come into play that I have – requirements I have to change and move and do," Biden said, referring to election laws. "It’s much too early to make that kind of decision. I’m a great respecter of fate. And so, what I’m doing is, I’m doing my job. I’m gonna do that job. And within the timeframe that makes sense after this next election cycle here, going into next year, make a judgment on what to do."
CHUCK TODD ON NEW NBC POLL: BIDEN ‘GETTING A LIFT FROM SIMPLY DONALD TRUMP’S PRESENCE’
The CBS reporter continued to press the president on whether he would run again in 2024 and Biden said that he intends to run again, "but it's just an intention."
"But is it a firm decision that I run again? That remains to be seen," he said.
President Joe Biden speaks during a rally hosted by the Democratic National Committee at Richard Montgomery High School on Aug. 25, 2022, in Rockville, Maryland. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
BIDEN SAYS US WOULD DEFEND TAIWAN IF CHINA LAUNCHES AN ‘UNPRECEDENTED ATTACK’
Pelley also asked the president if the U.S. would defend Taiwan.
"Yes, if in fact there was an unprecedented attack," Biden responded. "Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence. We are not moving – we're not encouraging their being independent. We're not – that – that's their decision."
President Joe Biden departs from Holy Spirit Catholic Church on St. Johns Island, South Carolina, Aug. 13, 2022. (Reuters/Joshua Roberts)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Biden's interview with CBS marked his first on air, sit-down interview with an American journalist in seven months.
The president sat down with NBC's Lester Holt in February, but the NBC appearance was Biden's first major media interview in four months.