A day after White House Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci said he supports forcing vaccines on people at a local level, the White House has stated that they will support municipalities that choose to do so.
During Monday’s White House press briefing, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy questioned press secretary Jen Psaki on Fauci’s remarks — which were made Sunday on CNN.
“Does President Biden agree with Dr. Fauci that at the local level there should be more vaccine mandates?” Doocy asked.
Psaki began explaining that she did not have the context of the statement, to which Doocy interjected and shared the full quote.
“’I have been of this opinion, and I remain of that opinion, that I do believe at the local level … there should be more mandates,’” said Doocy, quoting Fauci. “‘There really should be. We’re talking about life-and-death situations. We’ve lost 600,000 Americans already, and we’re still losing more people.’”
Psaki emphasized once again that the White House will not support any kind of federal mandate, but indicated that localities that engage in forced vaccination would have Joe Biden’s full backing.
“If I remember the context of the question, it was about federal mandates, I believe,” Psaki said. She added, “That’s not a decision we are making. That’s not our intention from the federal government.“
“There will be decisions made by private sector entities, by universities, by educational institutions, and even perhaps by local leaders — should they decide that is how to keep their communities safe. If they decide to make that decision, we certainly support them in that step.”
Doocy followed up, stating “The president said on March 11, ‘My message to you is this: Listen to Dr. Fauci,” and then asking “Is he now saying, don’t listen to Dr. Fauci?”
Psaki chuckled and sarcastically told Doocy, who had been temporality absent, “Welcome back,” before adding “What Dr. Fauci was conveying is that there will be decisions made by local leaders — just like there will be decisions made by business leaders, by institutional leaders — on how they can keep their communities safe. And we support their right to make those decisions.”