Government overreach has gone too far under the Biden administration.
After Joe Biden announced his plan to go door-to-door in order to get Americans vaccinated, now the Health and Human Services Secretary took things even further.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra spoke with CNN about COVID-19 vaccinations.
When asked about Americans’ criticism that it’s none of the government’s business whether or not they’ve been vaccinated, Becerra made a statement many feel was a veiled threat against unvaccinated citizens.
Becerra said that your vaccination status IS the government’s business:
“The federal government has spent trillions of dollars to keep Americans alive during this pandemic. So it is absolutely the government’s business [to know who is vaccinated.] It is taxpayers’ business if we have to continue to spend money.”
When pressed about the possibility of mandatory vaccinations, Becerra said this:
“We want to give people the sense that they have the freedom to choose, but we hope that they choose to live.”
They’re saying everything out loud at this point..
The Hill has more on this veiled threat against the American public:
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra declared Thursday that "it is absolutely the government's business" to know people's vaccination status, arguing the federal government has a vested interest in keeping Americans safe.
“The federal government has spent trillions of dollars to try and keep Americans alive during this pandemic," Becerra said on CNN's "New Day." "So it is absolutely the government's business, it is taxpayers' business, if we have to continue to spend money to try and keep people from contracting COVID."
The HHS chief demurred when pressed on whether the Biden administration would push to require proof for vaccinations, as advocated by some health experts, maintaining it should be left up to states and local governments.
"We want to give people the sense that they have the freedom to choose, but we hope that they choose to live," he added when pressed.
The concept of "vaccine passports" has previously drawn fierce pushback from GOP governors and civil rights advocates, among others, and the White House earlier this year ruled out the administration playing any role in such a system, indicating it would defer to private companies if they wanted to institute a system to require proof of vaccination.
In a tweet later on Thursday, Becerra attempted to clarify his remarks.
"Some comments I made today are being taken wildly out of context," he said. "To be clear: government has no database tracking who is vaccinated. We're encouraging people to step up to protect themselves, others by getting vaccinated. It's the best way to save lives and end this pandemic."
With Biden's new door-to-door policy on getting Americans vaccinated, along with these comments from the HHS secretary, it's clear that government overreach is at an all-time high.
They'd have you believe that you don't already have the freedom to choose for yourself.
The truth is that you, as an American, have every right to say no to the experimental vaccine.
Biden originally said that he planned on making door-to-door vaccination requests.
MSN has more on Becerra's statement, as well as his attempt to "clarify" his statement after the fact:
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra on Thursday sought to clarify his argument that "it is absolutely the government's business" to know which Americans have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, after facing backlash from Republicans in Congress.
Becerra posted on Twitter this his comments were "taken wildly out of context."
"To be clear: government has no database tracking who is vaccinated. We're encouraging people to step up to protect themselves, others by getting vaccinated. It's the best way to save lives and end this pandemic," the federal government's top health official said.
Becerra's remarks earlier Thursday came in response to Republican criticism President Joe Biden has received this week for his administration’s latest push to persuade vaccine-hesitant Americans to get their shots.
In a speech at the White House on Tuesday, Biden gave an update on the state of the U.S. vaccination program and ongoing efforts to reach parts of the country where skepticism of the vaccine still runs high.
“Now, we need to go to community-by-community, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, and oftentimes, door-to-door — literally knocking on doors — to get help to the remaining people protected from the virus,” Biden said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also detailed the components of the administration’s vaccine campaign at her briefing on Tuesday, including “targeted, community-by-community, door-to-door outreach to get remaining Americans vaccinated.”
Those references to door-knocking drew swift rebukes from congressional Republicans, who cast the comments as potential infringements on Americans’ civil liberties.
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