Psaki blames Trump for Covid lockdowns after Johns Hopkins study suggests they had little positive impact

Conservatives are using ‘lockdowns’ to describe social-distancing measures implemented under the Trump administration but while blaming Democrats for them

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Friday reminded reporters that the public health measures widely imposed at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic – derided by conservatives as “lockdowns” – were implemented on former president Donald Trump’s watch, after she was asked about a study that found soclal-distancing techniques did not have a significant positive effect.

Speaking during the White House daily press briefing, Ms Psaki was asked about a Johns Hopkins University study that cast doubt on the efficacy of social distancing measures and whether the Biden administration shared the view of the study’s authors.

In response, Ms Psaki first pointed reporters to the administration’s medical experts to answer what was a scientific question.

She then added: “I would note that the president has been clear we're not pushing lockdown, so we've not been pro-lockdown.”

Continuing, Ms Psaki stressed that such restrictive measures have “not been” on President Joe Biden’s “agenda” and recalled that the widespread adoption of social distancing which led to school and venue closures throughout the US occurred under Mr Trump and contrasted the ex-president’s strategy with Mr Biden’s.

“Most of the lockdowns actually happened under the previous president,” she said.

“What our objective has been is to convey that we have the tools we need to keep our country open thanks to the President's leadership and focus on fighting the virus — and that's reflected in the fact that 90 per cent of schools are open, over 210 million Americans are fully vaccinated. We have the tools to avoid lock downs, and we're not moving back and that's our intention at this point”.