On Monday, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey reacted swiftly to President Joe Biden’s comment to the nation’s governors that the response to COVID-19 must now be handled by local officials.
“There is no federal solution,” said Biden. “This gets solved at state level. That ultimately gets down to where the rubber meets the road, and that’s where the patient is in need of help.”
“It’s not enough. It’s clearly not enough. If we’d have known, we’d have gone harder, quicker if we could have,” Biden told the governors referring to a testing shortage.
Ducey tweeted in response, “President Biden said today “there is no federal solution” to resolve the pandemic. So why is he trying to force vaccine mandates in all 50 states?”
While the governor claimed that he has protected the public “without jeopardizing personal liberty or punting responsibility,” he has been soundly criticized for failing to protect Arizona residents, including healthcare workers and other first responders from vaccine mandates.
President Biden said today “there is no federal solution” to resolve the pandemic. So why is he trying to force vaccine mandates in all 50 states? 1/ https://t.co/X1atWS8bMC
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) December 27, 2021
Arizona will continue doing our part in the battle against COVID-19 – from nationally-recognized vaccination sites to bolstering health care staffing & encouraging everyone to get the vaccine who wants one – all without jeopardizing personal liberty or punting responsibility. 3/3
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) December 27, 2021
Not everyone was unhappy with the president’s remarks. Arizona State Representative Quang Nguyen expressed relief in a tweet, “Okay. Happy Independence Day.”
Okay. Happy Independence Day. https://t.co/s0RmGFHlwY
— Quang Nguyen (@QuangNguyenAZ) December 27, 2021