President Trump's update about the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to nearly collide with the elephant in the room — his election loss.
Trump spoke publicly on Friday for the first time since the presidential election, addressing the coronavirus pandemic and vowing he'd never implement lockdown measures to help curb the out-of-control spread of the virus. "This administration will not be going to a lockdown," Trump said.
But he seemed to catch himself from preemptively criticizing the future Biden administration, and in the process came closer than ever to acknowledging that President-elect Joe Biden will soon be in office. "Hopefully the — the uh, whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be, I guess time will tell," won't lockdown either, he said. Other than this slip, he did not comment on the election.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Latest Videos FromThe Week
Aside from that remark, Trump touted the progress of Operation Warp Speed, which is working to quickly develop a COVID-19 vaccine.
The program's chief adviser, Dr. Moncef Slaoui, said "potentially two vaccines and two therapeutics may be granted an emergency use authorization before the end of this year," also saying they hope to have 20 million vaccine doses ready for distribution in December. No vaccine has been approved for use, though Pfizer's promising candidate may seek approval for emergency use this month.
Moments before Trump's update, Biden released a statement that said "I am the president-elect, but I will not be president until next year. The crisis does not respect dates on the calendar ... Urgent action is needed today, now, by the current administration -- starting with an acknowledgment of how serious the current situation is."
