'That’s a lie': Biden falsely claims that vaccinated people 'cannot spread' COVID-19



President Joe Biden on Thursday falsely claimed that individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 "cannot spread" the virus to others.

What are the details?

The president was speaking in Elk Grove, Illinois, touting his administration's implementation of vaccine mandates for federal workers and active-duty military and push to mandate large businesses when he made the questionable remarks.

"We have to beat this thing," Biden said. "That's why I've had to move toward requirements that everyone get vaccinated."

"My administration is now requiring federal workers to be vaccinated. We've also required federal contractors to be vaccinated. If you have a contract with the federal government, working for the federal government, you have to be vaccinated," he continued. "We're requiring active duty military to be vaccinated."

"We're making sure health care workers are vaccinated," he added. "Because if you seek care at a health care facility, you should have the certainty that the pro- — the people providing that care are protected from COVID and cannot spread it to you."

Following the speech, conservative political and sports commentator Clay Travis uploaded a video of the president's remarks to Twitter calling into question his specific claims, among other things.

"Joe Biden falsely says covid vaccinated people can't spread the virus. That's a lie," Travis wrote. "Also he can't even read off a teleprompter. This just keeps getting more embarrassing."

Joe Biden falsely says covid vaccinated people can’t spread the virus. That’s a lie. Also he can’t even read off a… https://t.co/KGvXHzE6Wc

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) 1633639861.0

What else?

The president's remarks are at odds with present conclusions drawn by his own government.

In its latest guidance on the coronavirus Delta variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged that "fully vaccinated people with Delta variant breakthrough infections can spread the virus to others."

The CDC's guidance is reflective of scientific studies which have found that both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals who test positive for COVID-19 infection carry a similar amount of viral load, regardless of whether they have symptoms or not.

Earlier data touted by the CDC may have suggested that wasn't the case, and so perhaps Biden was only reiterating what he had heard before. But the CDC's current guidance was updated in August, which should have given the president plenty of time to consult the science.

While public health experts maintain that COVID-19 vaccines are extremely effective at preventing severe illness from the disease requiring hospitalization or causing death, it is simply not true that vaccinated individuals cannot spread the virus, especially as it pertains to the Delta variant.

Anything else?

Mainstream media outlets, if they were interested in doing their jobs, should be making it widely known that the president's conclusions on this matter, as articulated, are wrong.

Then again, it's not the first time that Biden has made this misleading claim about vaccines without much objection.

Biden admin opposes move to give honorable discharge to troops who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine, demands keeping dishonorable discharge on the table



The Biden administration thinks U.S. service members who refuse to comply with the military's COVID-19 vaccine mandate should be subjected to the potential of a dishonorable discharge.

What are the details?

In a statement issued Tuesday, the White House forcefully rejected a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) prohibiting the Pentagon from dishonorably discharging any service member who declines to get the vaccine.

"The Administration strongly opposes section 716, which would detract from readiness and limit a commander's options for enforcing good order and discipline when a Service member fails to obey a lawful order to receive a vaccination," the White House argued. "To enable a uniformed force to fight with discipline, commanders must have the ability to give orders and take appropriate disciplinary measures."

The provision, introduced by Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) during the bill's markup phase, ensured that service members removed over their refusal to get the vaccine would receive nothing but an honorable discharge, noting that "many Americans have reservations about taking a vaccine that has only been available for less than a year."

"Any discharge other than honorable denotes a dereliction of duty or a failure to serve the United States and its people to the best of the ability of an individual," the provision states.

What's the background?

The executive branch last month issued a sweeping directive requiring all U.S. service members to be vaccinated. At the time that the directive was issued, more than 800,000 service members had yet to receive a vaccine, according to Pentagon data.

The move controversial move drew immediate backlash from conservative lawmakers and members of the military. But the Pentagon, on the other hand, has characterized the mandate as a "lawful order" that must be followed.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Green said he was "appalled" by the administration's opposition to his provision, adding, "This was a bipartisan amendment — every Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee agreed to it."

The news outlet recalled remarks Green made earlier this month when he argued, "No American who raises their hand to serve our Nation should be punished for making a highly personal medical decision."

Republicans by in large have resisted President Biden's attempts to mandate vaccination among service members, federal employees, and most recently, companies with more than 100 employees.

Also speaking with the Daily Mail, Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) argued, "Our readiness, our ability to take on the enemy is being undermined by forcing young people, people who are perfectly healthy, perfectly able to fend off Covid, and are required to have the vaccine."

Anything else?

In addition to opposing Section 716, the administration also announced opposition to another provision in the NDAA that exempts service members from the vaccine mandate if they have had prior COVID-19 infection.

"The Administration also strongly opposes section 720, which would create a new and overly broad exemption from the vaccination requirement for previous infection that would undermine the effectiveness of the requirement," the White House stated.

That statement appears to stand in contrast to documented evidence indicating that natural immunity arising from prior infection provides similar, if not greater, protection to the virus than does a vaccine.