White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claimed Thursday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has tested positive for the coronavirus, kissing President Biden on the cheek and holding his hand did not meet the White House’s definition of “close contact.”
“How can you guys say that President Biden was not a close contact with speaker Pelosi when there’s video of the speaker kissing him?” Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Psaki on Thursday.
“Their definition of it is 15 minutes of contact within a set period of time, within six feet,” Psaki responded, referring to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition of “close contact.” “It did not meet that bar.”
Watch:
A spokesperson for Pelosi announced Thursday that the San Francisco Democrat tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday after being spotted embracing Biden and kissing him on the cheek during an Affordable Care Act event in the East Room of the White House on Tuesday.
Psaki was widely mocked by conservatives on social media who slammed her for seemingly implying the 79-year-old Biden was not at risk to contract the coronavirus because he was not standing within six feet of Pelosi for 15 minutes.
“So basically Jen Psaki’s argument in this briefing is that if a person with COVID sneezed directly on Joe Biden, he wouldn’t be a ‘close contact’ because the sneeze lasted less than 15 minutes,” Heritage Foundation Communications Director John Cooper tweeted.
This is an excerpt from Fox News.
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