Jen Psaki: Travel Restriction Rules Do Not Apply to Joe Biden

US President Joe Biden continues up the steps after tripping while boarding Air Force One
Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday again defended President Joe Biden’s decisions to travel, despite the Centers for Disease Control urging Americans not to travel.

“I would say the president travels, as does the vice president, on a private plane,” she said. “That is the purview of every president and vice president throughout American history.”

Biden and Harris fly on planes operated by the government, not the private sector.

The president recently returned from a weekend away at his home in Delaware and plans to travel to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday to promote his proposed multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure spending bill. Vice President Kamala Harris just completed a series of public events across the country to promote the $1.9 trillion coronavirus spending package.

The CDC has advised Americans not to travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

Psaki argued Biden travels by himself, which was safer, but it was more dangerous for Americans flying commercially on crowded planes.

She added Biden was also not hosting big crowds or large events as he traveled, and she argued Americans would understand why he continued to travel while they were advised not to.

“We take the role of being models quite seriously, but I think most Americans would recognize the difference,” she said.

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