Biden says avoid planes, subways; puts out clarifying statement
By CAROL E. LEE and AMIE PARNES 04/30/2009 07:57 AM EDT Updated 04/30/2009 04:59 PM EDT
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White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued an apology Thursday for Vice President Joe Biden?s comments that he wouldn?t recommend taking a commercial flight or riding in a subway car because swine flu virus can spread in confined places.
?Obviously, if anybody was unduly alarmed for whatever reason, we would apologize for that. And I hope that my remarks and remarks of people at CDC and Secretary Napolitano have appropriately cleared up what he meant to say,? Gibbs said during the daily briefing at the White House.
Biden?s office later sought to clarify his remarks by saying he was only urging sick people to avoid planes and trains.
Gibbs said President Barack Obama had not spoken to Biden about his remarks.
In an interview Thursday on NBC?s ?Today? show, Biden said, ?I would tell members of my family ? and I have ? I wouldn?t go anywhere in confined places now,? Biden said on NBC?s ?Today? show.. ?It?s not that it?s going to Mexico. It?s [that] you?re in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft. That?s me. ?
?So, from my perspective, what it relates to is mitigation. If you?re out in the middle of a field when someone sneezes, that?s one thing. If you?re in a closed aircraft or closed container or closed car or closed classroom, it?s a different thing.?
A little more than one hour later, Biden rushed out a statement backing off.
Biden?s remarks contradicted more restrained advice from President Barack Obama and the federal government ? and the last thing the White House wants to do right now is shut down the airline industry and big-city subways out of mass panic.
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The White House quickly arranged for Biden to make this statement through a spokesperson.
?On the Today Show this morning, the vice president was asked what he would tell a family member who was considering air travel to Mexico this week. The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico. If they are sick, they should avoid airplanes and other confined public spaces, such as subways. This is the advice the vice president has given family members who are traveling by commercial airline this week. As the president said just last night, every American should take the same steps you would take to prevent any other flu: Keep your hands washed; cover your mouth when you cough; stay home from work if you're sick and keep your children home from school if they're sick.?
Host Matt Lauer had asked the vice president: ?This is by no means a ?gotcha? type of question. ? But if a member of your family came to you ? and said, ?Look, I want to go on a commercial airliner to Mexico, and back within the next week,? would you think it?s a good idea?? Biden made it unmistakably clear he would not want his family to make any trips on planes or subways.
These sorts of comments are what the Obama administration fears from Biden, who after more than three decades in Washington is known for making gaffes.
Biden has had fewer of them since the election and even fewer since taking office. Recently, he stirred things up by saying he was once in the Oval Office with George W. Bush and told the president that no one was following his leadership. Karl Rove flatly called Biden a "liar."
?If you are feeling certain flu symptoms, don't get on an airplane, don't get on any system of public transportation where you're confined and you could potentially spread the virus. So those are the steps that I think we need to take right now. But understand that because this is a new strain, we have to be cautious.?
Before taking office, Biden was the unpredictable one in the Obama team. He compared the economic crisis with Sept. 11, saying, "We're at war!" and he said it was ?a mistake? that Obama selected a CIA director without consulting the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Despite the White House's attempt to quell Biden's remarks, the CEO of the Air Transport Association, James May, wrote a letter to the vice president this afternoon expressing his "extreme disappointment" in his comments.
"While individuals who are feeling ill should remain home, no responsible officials or healthcare professionals have suggested that people avoid air travel. The fact is that the air onboard a commercial aircraft is cleaner than that in most public buildings," May wrote
Geoff Freeman, the senior vice president of the Travel Industry Association of America, called Biden's comments "unfortunate."
"We need to leave this in the hands of the medical experts, and medical experts are not discouraging anyone" from using these modes of transportation, he said.
Biden and other government officials "need to be very cognizant of the words they use and not make inflammatory comments."
"We're pleased to see the White House working to clarify these comments, and we urge all elected officials to watch their words because they can take on a life of their own."
At a news conference on Thursday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stopped shy of criticizing Biden?s remarks, simply clarifying, ?I think what Joe Biden was talking about was it is true that we recommend, if you have all these symptoms, you stay home.?
?Don?t go to your office,? Bloomberg continued. ?Don?t send your child to school. Exercise caution.?
Bloomberg?who rides the subway everyday-- said the flu ?doesn?t seem to be taking over the city and so there?s no evidence that being on the subway would, in a confined space, increase dramatically the probability. I don?t see people coughing or sneezing on the subway. I don?t see people complaining.?
To keep from getting sick, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends: ?Try to avoid close contact with sick people. If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.?
Obama said at his news conference on Wednesday night that ?individual families [need to] start taking very sensible precautions ? that can make a huge difference.
?So wash your hands when you shake hands,? he advised. ?Cover your mouth when you cough. I know it sounds trivial, but it makes a huge difference. If you are sick, stay home. If your child is sick, keep them out of school.?
https://www.politico.com/story/2009...-subways-puts-out-clarifying-statement-021925