But allies say the move will save lives and show the White House is taking the initiative to get solutions directly to Americans.
“It’s critical for the well-being of everyone — and critical for Biden’s political future — that he continues to meet this pandemic with action,” said Sean McElwee, the founder of the progressive group Data for Progress, whose new polling shows free masks and tests to be widely popular.The administration kept its Covid policy focused on vaccines, even as Americans struggled to find tests and authentic N95 masks, with White House press secretary Jen Psaki just a month ago mocking the idea of sending Americans free tests."I wish the White House had started this nine months ago, before delta and omicron infected millions of Americans and killed hundreds of thousands, instead of scoffing at the idea,” said Evan Sutton, a liberal strategist who works with labor unions."If we want people to believe government can work, and that Democrats can deliver on our promises, then we need to address their needs," he said, adding that he hopes the White House will "dramatically expand these programs.”.Politically, Gallup’s Jeff Jones doubts the free tests and masks themselves will help Biden much — unless they make a meaningful impact on the pandemic itself.Gallup’s latest survey on the pandemic found that Americans are more worried about getting Covid than they have been since last winter and that most Americans say the pandemic situation is “getting worse.”Biden’s approval rating only began to fall from its initial honeymoon phase when Covid cases rose with the delta surge last summer, Jones said, adding that Covid numbers will probably need to come down for Biden’s numbers to go up“People are really attentive to Covid rates,” Jones said
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