“Imagine if we weren’t getting that information,” the president added. In addition to the looming threat of the virus, Biden planned to take the mic as a massive and deadly invasion of Ukraine continued to unfold at the hands of Russian forces.īiden mentioned the dinner during a speech this past week about Russia’s war on Ukraine, saying, “I’ve always had respect for the press, but I can’t tell you how much respect I have watching them in these zones where they’re under fire.” Psaki said Biden’s decision to attend “does stand in stark contrast to his predecessor, who not only questioned the legitimacy of the press on a nearly daily basis, but also never attended the dinner.” Trump, who at times branded the media “the enemy of the people,” had gleefully boycotted the event as president. each day from the virus, down from more than 2,600 daily earlier this year - with about 1,600 hospitalizations per day, declining from a peak of more than 21,000 daily in January. Just over 300 people are dying in the U.S. is experiencing a COVID-19 case spike from a highly contagious subvariant of omicron, with confirmed infections rising to about 44,000 per day, up from 26,000 a month ago.ĭespite the latest wave of COVID-19 cases, virus deaths and hospitalizations are near, or at, pandemic lows, with the BA.2 variant proving less severe than earlier virus strains.
