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WASHINGTON (AP) – Marking a year of loss and disruption, President Joe Biden will declare on Thursday the ‘next phase’ of the nation’s fight against the coronavirus by signing into law a $ 1.9 trillion relief package which he believes will help defeat the United States. the virus and bring the economy back to health.
The signing will come hours before Biden delivers his first prime-time address since taking office. It aims to steer the nation towards a greedy sentiment – hope – as it marks a year since the start of the pandemic that has killed more than 529,000 Americans.
Biden had originally planned to sign the bill on Friday, but it got to the White House faster than expected.
We want to go as fast as possible, ”tweeted White House chief of staff Ron Klain. He added: “We will be hosting our signing celebration on Friday, as planned, with the leaders of Congress!”
Previewing his remarks, Biden said he would “be talking about what we’ve been through as a nation this year, but more importantly, I’m going to talk about what’s to come next.
Biden’s challenge Thursday night will be to honor the sacrifices Americans made over the past year while encouraging them to remain vigilant despite “viral fatigue” and the growing impatience to resume normal activities given the enticing promise of vaccines. Speaking on the first anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of a pandemic, he will mourn the dead, but also project optimism for the future.
“It’s a chance for him to really shine in everyone’s living rooms and be both the chief mourning and to explain how he’s leading the country out of it,” said the presidential historian and Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley.
“It’s a great moment,” added Brinkley. “It has to win hearts and minds to keep people masked and get vaccinated, but also recognize that after last year the federal government has not forgotten you.
Biden’s evening remarks in the East Room are at the heart of a pivotal week for the president as he takes on the defining challenge of his tenure: guiding the nation through the two public health and economic storms caused by the virus .
On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released initial guidance on how those vaccinated can resume certain normal activities. On Wednesday, Congress approved the president’s $ 1.9 trillion “US bailout” aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the virus on tens of millions of people. And the country was set to administer its 100 millionth dose of the vaccine as early as Thursday.
Biden said he would focus his remarks on what his administration planned to deliver in the coming months, but would also reiterate his call for Americans to continue to practice social distancing and wear masks to hasten the end of the pandemic.
“I will launch the next phase of the COVID response and explain what we will do as a government and what we will ask of the American people,” he said.
He added: “There is light at the end of this dark tunnel of the past year. There is real reason to hope. “
Almost exactly a year ago, President Donald Trump addressed the nation to mark the WHO’s declaration of a global pandemic. He announced travel restrictions and called on Americans to practice good hygiene, but was little alarmed by the next disaster. Trump, it was later revealed, admitted that he had deliberately “played down” the threat of the virus.
For Biden, who has vowed to level himself with the American public after the alternate reality of Trump’s virus talk, the imperative is to strike the right balance “between optimism and grief,” Julian Zelizer said, professor of history at Princeton and presidential researcher.
“In general, the country loves optimism, and at this precise moment it is in desperate need of optimism, but you cannot risk a moment of ‘mission accomplished’,” he said, warning. against any premature statement that the threat has been defeated.
Fifty days into his presidency, Biden is enjoying a survey honeymoon his predecessor never enjoyed. Yet public sentiment remains stubbornly polarized and fewer of its critics seem willing to say they will give it a chance than previous presidents have. Overall, he scored well in his handling of the pandemic.
According to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released last week, 70% of Americans support the Democratic president’s handling of the response to the virus, including 44% of Republicans.
The White House is hoping that, as Biden takes on the cheerleader role for the virus relief program, elements of the $ 1.9 trillion bill that are popular with Republicans will further bolster his support.
Brinkley said Biden’s decision to deliver a speech aimed directly at the nation before delivering the traditional presidential speech at a joint congressional session signals that this is as much of an “introduction” by the president and his administration to the American people as a status report. over his first 50 days in office.
Presidential speeches in Congress “tend to be a series of sound clips,” Brinkley said. “That way he can make his case directly.”
Yet prime-time speech is in many ways an anachronism, better suited to a time when Americans had far fewer TV options and a presidential speech could reframe the national conversation.
The fragmented media landscape makes it harder for Biden to reach people, Zelizer said, but that may be irrelevant.
“All he does is turn back the clock,” Zelizer said. “It’s part of his effort to create normalcy after the past four years.”
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