No, Fox News, Biden's Air Force One Trip Doesn't Defy CDC Travel Warnings

Fox News got roasted on Friday over a tweet criticizing President Biden for daring to fly Air Force One to his home state of Delaware “despite CDC warnings to avoid travel.”

Despite the obvious ridiculousness of taking shots at the President of the United States for safely traveling on Air Force One, the news outlet still attempted to argue that he should follow the CDC’s recommendation “that you do not travel at this time” because it “increases your chance of spreading and getting COVID-19.”

To be clear, the CDC has made a recommendation for general citizens not to travel if they can avoid it because they would be in close quarters with dozens of other passengers, one of whom might be infected and, therefore, possibly causing the spread of the virus. It has not, however, forbidden anyone from traveling, and Biden is not breaking any rules by doing so. You can read more about the CDC’s specific travel recommendations here.

On top of that, the news story that the tweet in question was promoting proved its own headline wrong by noting that Biden will not be traveling on public transportation and that the CDC itself recommends that those who must travel — like the President, maybe? — should first complete both rounds of vaccinations, which Biden has done.

Fox News also pointed out in its story the fact that its former president Donald Trump, “made multiple trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. amid the pandemic last year.”

The Associated Press took a similar route with their coverage of the President’s Air Force One flight during Friday’s press briefing, with their White House reporter Zeke Miller asking Press Secretary Jen Psaki why the president is traveling this weekend despite CDC guidance.

“The key, Zeke, is ensuring that people don’t take steps to make others vulnerable in our effort to get the pandemic under control,” Psaki answered. “As you know, any President of the United States, Democrat or Republican, obviously takes Air Force One, a private plane when they travel.”

But Twitter users still had a field day with Fox News’ headline on Friday.

Actress Patricia Arquette put it simply: “He is the President of the United States.”

“Wait til you hear about the LAST guy who flew to Florida every week to play golf,” wrote former democratic Congressional candidate Rob Anderson.

“I know you guys are rusty after four years of bootlicking, but this is pretty hilariously weak,” historian Kevin M. Kruse wrote.

“Where were these stories when Trump was flying absolutely everywhere doing rallies?” another user wrote.

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