White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki smacked down NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander’s absurd concern-trolling question about the “burden” President Joe Biden’s newest vaccine quasi-mandate might place on businesses.
If anything, the mandate — which requires businesses with 100 employees or more to either mandate vaccines or testing — is long overdue, but no sooner had Biden announced it than members of the media were asking the responsible 70 percent of society to please spare a thought for the stupidity vectors who are prolonging the pandemic.
Add Alexander to that dopey list. At Friday’s briefing, he tried to strike up a tiny violin chorus for the employers in question by asking Psaki about the “burden” businesses might face in having their employees take a free vaccine that’s available everywhere, or choose to do the testing thing instead.
Psaki shut him down so well, he eventually felt the need to explain why he had even bothered to ask:
ALEXANDER: Jen, what does the White House say to those businesses — some business groups are expressing this concern that this requirement that they either have their employees be vaccinated or that they be tested is ultimately a burden on the businesses? So, what does the White House say about that burden? Because it’s certainly a costly liability some say.MS. PSAKI: Well, the vaccines are free and available to everyone in the country. So that shouldn
’t be costly or avail– or –ALEXANDER: They were given an opt-out. So, in other words, if they say they want to do the weekly tests — you couldn’t say earlier who would pay for that test.MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.ALEXANDER: Businesses are saying, “How do we get these tests to our employees? What if our employees don’t want to pay for it themselves? Do we have to pay for it? And what does that cost us at the end of the day?” Given that they have the right to opt out.MS. PSAKI: They have to make that decision themselves. It’s certainly more cost-effective to require vaccines. They may not decide to do that. That’s up to them to decide to do.ALEXANDER: So, ultimately, the burden is on that business to make that decision or just swallow the cost?MS. PSAKI: Correct. Most of these businesses can absolutely afford it. And what we’re talking about here is saving people’s lives and protecting them.I’d also say there are a number of companies that have already applied this — have already put requirements in place. It makes for safer workplaces; it makes people want to come back to the workplace; it makes for healthier and happier employees who know that they are safe when they go to work. And that’s a cost as well.ALEXANDER: Obviously, testing is cheaperfor a place like United. They can afford it more easily than a business that’s only 100 people big. That’s why I ask.MS. PSAKI: I understand.ALEXANDER: Can I ask about –MS. PSAKI: But again, vaccines: free, available everywhere in the country. Requiring that is a way — is — is not — is free and shouldn’t cost businesses any money.ALEXANDER: Understood.
Everyone is fed up with the defiantly unvaccinated idiots who are literally feeding this pandemic, and if anything, Biden waited too long to become a hardass about vaccine mandates. I understand why. Part of it is, as he keeps saying, he just couldn’t believe people would be this f*cking stupid, which, Jesus, how?
The other part is that there’s no putting this genie back in the bottle, and with an activist 6-3 court, you don’t want to shoot early or shoot wide. But this thing is killing kids now, and if it keeps going, there could be a variant that the vaccines don’t work so well on.
So media, read the room.
Watch above via C-Span.