The one-year anniversary of The Week Everything Changed means a new round of Anthony Fauci interviews on the Sunday shows to take stock of where the pandemic has been and where it’s going. For casual news consumers, that may be enlightening. For news junkies who routinely encounter Fauci soundbites, you know what to expect:
— a plea not to relax precautions like mask-wearing and social-distancing just yet, especially with dangerous variants circulating;
— a projection on when the general public will have access to the vaccine (next month) and when we might approach herd immunity (late summer);
— reassurances that the CDC will continue to gradually relax its guidance for vaccinated people to encourage them to socialize and travel again;
— regrets about how politicized the debate over COVID restrictions became.
He may be asked too about whether Trump alumni have a point when they complain about Team Biden trashing their vaccine work, which should be interesting. He’s set for “Meet the Press,” “State of the Union,” and “Fox News Sunday.” An unlikely counterpoint to Fauci this morning will come from centrist Republican Larry Hogan, the governor of Maryland, who’ll also chat with “State of the Union.” Hogan surprised people this past week by reopening businesses in his state at full capacity, not something you’d expect from a RINO elected by a heavily Democratic electorate. He’ll defend his decision to Jake Tapper.
Elsewhere, Nancy Pelosi and Janet Yellen will drop by “This Week” to try to sell viewers on the wonders of the COVID relief bill that just passed and the wonders yet to come if they can find the votes for a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure package. Progressive heartthrob Stacey Abrams is set to make a sales pitch of her own on “Meet the Press” and “State of the Union” for H.R. 1, the Democrats’ bloated, likely unconstitutional voting reform bill. Expect her to be quizzed on how the Senate’s supposed to pass that bill when 60 votes are needed. Her inevitable answer: By nuking the filibuster. Or, maybe, by using reconciliation procedures to lower the threshold for passage to 50, a dubious idea which Joe Manchin might be interested in.
If you’re looking for pure schadenfreude instead of policy, try Bill de Blasio on “Face the Nation.” He’ll spend his time gleefully stomping nemesis Andrew Cuomo for his myriad scandals and calling on him to resign. The full line-up is at the AP.
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