On the anniversary of his inauguration, the diagnosis exceeded one million, and Biden declared that the United States "still has good days ahead."
On January 19, local time, US President Joe Biden held a press conference at the White House to review his performance in his first year in office.
"It's been a challenging year, but it's also a year of significant progress over the years." Biden summed up the U.S. government's performance over the past year in his opening remarks. He boasted that the United States has received more than 200 million doses of covid-19 vaccines and that unemployment rates in many states have hit record lows.
Biden acknowledged that the U.S. government could have stepped up testing for the coronavirus earlier, which left the U.S. with two years of "physical, emotional and psychological burdens." But he then took a sharp turn, declaring that the United States is now conducting more tests than ever before, and that the epidemic in the United States will not become a crisis.
"Some people might call what's happening now the new normal, and I think it's unfinished business. We are moving towards an era where COVID-19 will not disrupt the daily lives of Americans, it will not become a crisis, it will only become a threat that Americans need to guard against. We haven't achieved that yet, but sooner or later we will. ”
The New York Times reported
Biden also reiterated his position, stressing that the United States will not return to lockdowns and school closures. He said the U.S. public health and economy have faced "the biggest challenge ever" over the past few years, but the U.S. is "getting through it." In the future, he declared, the United States will create jobs at a "record rate" and seek ways to control inflation, thereby "laying the foundation for America to win the future of the 21st century."
The Washington Post reports
Biden tried to convey optimism to the American people in his speech. "I've been saying that going against the American people or the United States is never a good bet. Today I believe this more than ever. Over the past year, we have seen the courage and determination of the American people... The best days in this country are still ahead of us, not behind. ”
However, while Biden made an optimistic statement, the number of new cases in the United States in a single day once again exceeded 1 million. According to the statistics of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 6:21 Beijing time on January 20, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia in the United States reached 68389711, and the cumulative number of deaths reached 857276. In the past 24 hours, 1217416 new confirmed cases and 3,867 new deaths.
In terms of promoting policy legislation, Biden admitted that the voting rights bill proposed by the Democratic Party is unlikely to be passed in the US Congress. But he insisted the legislation was not hopeless and that "we are not at the end of the road, let's wait and see".
Biden said he was willing to back down on the "Better Rebuild Bill" that was frustrated in Congress last year, "I think we can split the bill first, try to achieve as much as possible, and then fight for the rest." ”
Taking the opportunity to discuss legislative issues, Biden has "criticized" former President Trump. He declared republicans who voted against it out of fear of Trump's intimidation were "disappointing." "Have you ever thought that a person who steps down can intimidate an entire party into rejecting the yes vote they should have cast just because they were afraid of being defeated in the primary?"
However, Fox News, which has always liked to "contradict" Biden, noticed that when asked about his own controversial remarks on the legislative issue, Biden seemed to "lose his cool and get angry with reporters."
An American journalist mentioned at the press conference that Biden had compared opponents of the voting rights bill with the "notorious" white supremacist politicians in American history, Eugene Connor and George Wallace.
Biden "interrupted the question and raised his voice" in response, saying, "I didn't say that." Do I say that the opponents of the bill have similar positions with Eugene Connor, which is tantamount to saying that they are Eugene Connor? Your English reading comprehension is awesome. ”
Although Biden is confident in his administration, the bill has been repeatedly blocked in Congress and the new crown epidemic has intensified in the United States, making the US president suffer a "crisis of trust" in the people just one year in office, and the support rate has reached an all-time low. A Jan. 12 poll at Quinnipiac University in the United States showed biden's approval rating fell to 33 percent, down 3 percentage points from November.
But for the questioning of the American people, Biden seems to be dismissive, and he bluntly said at the press conference that he "does not believe in the poll results."
Moreover, Biden made a surprising remark when talking about foreign affairs, "predicting" that Russia might "take action" against Ukraine. "I guess he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) will take action, he will definitely do something ... But he's a well-informed man, and I'm sure he's thinking about the short- and long-term implications of Russia, and I don't think he's made up his mind yet. ”
Biden also continued to speak harshly about Russia, threatening that an "invasion of Ukraine" would result in a "heavy and expensive price" that Russia would "regret."
Since Biden took office on January 20, 2021, Biden has rarely held a formal press conference, and this is the second time he has held a separate press conference at the White House since taking office.
NBC noted that while Biden has tried to brag about his achievements, his performance in terms of the pandemic, inflation suppression, policy legislation and other aspects has not been satisfactory.
Roundup: Global Times
Source: Observer Network