Trump and Biden news: President pushes to meet vaccine target after Texas storm delay
Follow
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
The Biden administration is racing to meet its ongoing coronavirus vaccination targets following a delay caused by a severe winter storm that left millions of people in Texas without power this month.
Asked how the government was dealing with the delay, which saw the distribution of millions of vaccine doses put on hold, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the government was following a “contingency plan” to get back track.
Speaking on ABC News’ ‘This Week’, Ms Psaki said, at least 2 million of the 6 million delayed doses have already been distributed.
“We can’t control Mother Nature - no one can - but we can certainly contingency plan,” she said.
The White House press secretary said the government expected to “rapidly catch up this week” and make sure vaccines get out to communities “and also meet our deadlines and our timelines of the doses that are due to go out this upcoming week”.
Ms Psaki also said President Joe Biden is expected to visit Texas as early as this upcoming week after approving a major disaster declaration for the state following the severe winter storm.
Senior Republican still refuses to admit Biden won election
House minority whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, has refused to admit that Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in November 2020’s presidential election.
During an appearance on ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Mr Scalise was asked about Mr Trump’s repeated false claims that there was widespread fraud in favour of the Democrats in last year’s election.
After a rambling answer where he said Mr Biden is the president, Mr Scalise was interrupted by the host, who asked: “Congressman, I know Joe Biden’s the president. He lives at the White House.
“I asked you, is he the legitimate president of the United States, and do you concede that this election was not stolen? Very simple question. Please just answer it.”
While not answering the question, the House minority whip replied: “Once the electors are counted, yes, he’s the legitimate president. But if you’re going to ignore the fact that there were states that did not follow their own … laws, that’s the issue at heart, that millions of people still are not happy with and don’t want to see happen again.
“You know, look … you can rehash the election from 2020 all day long, but there are people concerned about what the next election is going to look like. Are we going to finally get back to the way the rule of law works?”
Gina Carano says she wasn’t comparing Republicans to Jewish people in the Holocaust in social media post
Gina Carano has insisted that she was not comparing the plight of conservatives to Jewish people during the Holocaust in a controversial social media post.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the actor, who appeared in The Mandalorian as Cara Dune, would no longer be a part of any forthcoming Disney productions after sharing a post that was deemed antisemitic by some critics.
Isobel Lewis has the story.
Gina Carano says she wasn’t comparing Republicans to Jewish people in social media post
Lucasfilm said that they would no longer be working with Carano after she shared the post
Arkansas governor says he would not support a Trump 2024 presidential run
Republican Asa Hutchinson said he would not back e-president Donald Trump if he tried to win another term in the White House.
“He’s got a good family ... and they love America,” Mr Hutchinson told Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union.
“But I would not support him for reelection in 2024.
“He’s going to have a voice, as former presidents do, but there’s many voices in our party,” he added and said that Mr Trump “should not define our future.”
Merrick Garland vows to go after white supremacists as attorney general ahead of confirmation hearing
Joe Biden’s Joe Biden’s attorney general nominee Merrick Garland has vowed to go after “white supremacists and others” who attacked the US Capitol.
Mr Garland made the promise in his opening statement to theSenate Judiciary committee, which was released ahead of his confirmation hearing on Monday.
Merrick Garland vows to go after white supremacists as attorney general ahead of confirmation hearing
The judge was infamously denied a hearing for Supreme Court seat by Mitch McConnell
Ted Cruz under fire after Texas winter storm ‘photo op’ shows him handing out water to residents
Texas Senator Ted Cruz was pictured on Saturday handing out bottled water to residents who are experiencing a shortage due to the winter storm, but the moment was criticised as a “photo op” for the Republican.
Mr Cruz shared the pictures on his Twitter account while writing “#TexasStrong”. In the pictures, he was seen loading packages of bottled water into residents’ vehicles. But he did not reveal where the pictures were taken.
Danielle Zoellner has more.
Ted Cruz under fire after Texas winter storm ‘photo op’ shows him handing out water to residents
In the pictures, he was seen loading packages of bottled water into residents’ vehicles
GOP quickly becoming blue-collar party
Republicans are becoming the party of blue-collar Americans, according to new polls.
Over the last decade the percentage of blue-collar voters who identify as Republican has increased by 12 per cent, while the number in that group identifying as Democrats has dropped eight per cent, says NBC News.
Half of Republicans think party should be “more loyal” to Donald Trump, says new poll
And 46 per cent of those questioned for new Suffolk University/USA TODAY Poll say they would leave to join a new party if Mr Trump started one.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies