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Harris Admits Admin Has ‘Not Been Victorious’ In Fighting Pandemic: ‘We Didn’t See’ Variants ‘Coming’

   DailyWire.com
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 17: Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during an interview with The Los Angeles Times in her ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House Complex on Friday, Dec. 17, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris admitted during an interview this week that the Biden administration has not been successful in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.

“We didn’t see Delta coming. I think most scientists did not — upon whose advice and direction we have relied — didn’t see Delta coming,” Harris told The Los Angeles Times in an interview. “We didn’t see Omicron coming. And that’s the nature of what this, this awful virus has been, which as it turns out, has mutations and variants.”

The Times reported:

President Biden celebrated “independence” from the virus in an upbeat July 4 speech, saying, “While the virus hasn’t been vanquished, we know this: It no longer controls our lives. It no longer paralyzes our nation. And it’s within our power to make sure it never does again.”

At the time, some public health experts warned that his optimism was premature, given that the Delta variant was already a significant threat. Harris denied that the administration declared victory prematurely, or ever.

“We have not been victorious over it,” Harris added. “I don’t think that in any regard anyone can claim victory when, you know, there are 800,000 people who are dead because of this virus.”

The report highlighted past remarks that Harris made during 2020 election that many critics say contributed to vaccine hesitancy:

Harris hedged when asked in September 2020 whether she would take a vaccine if it was approved before the election, saying it would be “an issue for all of us” because “I would not trust Donald Trump.” She added, however, that she would trust “a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability.

Harris’ approval rating, recorded at an abysmal 28% last month, is the lowest number ever recorded for a vice president and the numbers are even worse when considering that the administration has been in office less than 1 year.

Business Insider added:

At this early stage of a modern presidency, Harris’ numbers in the USA Today/Suffolk poll are unprecedented. The closest comparison — which involves slightly different methodology and margins of error — would be former Vice President Dick Cheney, the most unpopular US vice president in polling history. He bottomed out at 30% in Gallup’s tracking survey, but that wasn’t until the end of former President George W. Bush’s second term in 2007.

Harris has taken on thorny assignments early on in her tenure as VP, including running point on the administration’s efforts at handling the migration surge of asylum seekers at the southern border. As Insider’s Robin Bravender reported in late October, Harris aides are quietly worried about the 2024 presidential election, should Biden forego a reelection bid, with former 2020 primary rival and Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg posing a potential threat.

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