On Day 108, the Bidens join the likes of Meghan and Harry and Oprah to fundraise for a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation health initiative.
Biden Decamps To Camp David.
President Joe Biden spent Mother’s Day weekend at Camp David. During his Friday departure, Biden jogged a short distance on the South Lawn toward Marine One, then resumed a normal walking pace. There were no official events on his schedule.
Biden, Harris Appear In VAX LIVE Broadcast.
The president, first lady Jill Biden, and vice president Kamala Harris made pre-recorded appearances in a star-studded event called “VAX LIVE: The Concert to Reunite the World,” hosted by Global Citizen and co-chaired by Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan Markle, with corporate sponsors including Coca-Cola, Citi, Cisco, Delta, P&G, Verizon, and others. In addition to the U.S. president, the event included video endorsements from Pope Francis, Oprah Winfrey, and Markle, between celebrity performances.
The VAX LIVE campaign is a push for developed countries to donate excess vaccines to poorer countries through COVAX, led by the World Health Organization (WHO), and support ACT-Accelerator, a broad COVID-19 coordination initiative launched by WHO, the European Commission, France, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in April 2020.
In addition to promoting vaccine donation, termed “vaccine equity,” the event urged viewers to get vaccinated in order to resume the important life moments and facial expressions (?) that are rightfully theirs.
“These moments—meeting your newborn grandchild, or holding a loved one’s hand through a hard time, gathering with friends or smiling at a stranger without wearing a mask— when you get vaccinated, you don’t have to miss them any longer,” first lady Jill Biden said in a video recorded at the White House.
“The vaccines are safe—I promise you, they’re safe,” the president added.
Harris called vaccination “our responsibility as global citizens.”
“During Global Citizen’s ‘Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World,’ politicians, celebrities and musicians pleaded with the public to get vaccinated and discouraged world leaders from stockpiling vaccine supplies, as the world faces stark gaps in access to COVID-19 vaccines,” NPR reported.
The concert included moments such as veteran entertainer Jennifer Lopez embracing her mother onstage, which was touted by Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans as “the power of the vaccine at work.”
“They were both fully vaccinated and, therefore, you can hug your friends and family again,” Evans explained. “It’s those powerful things that we were working towards.”
White House Releases Self-Congratulatory Mothers Day Video.
The White House tweeted a Mothers Day video featuring White House staffers calling their mom and being cheered for working at the White House—which was billed as “reflect[ing] on our journeys to public service.” Yes. really. Staffers dialed their mothers from a studio and asked them such things as “Mom, did you ever think I’d work at the White House?” and “What do you think I do every day?” One mother was prompted to describe what the Office of Digital Strategy does. Staff even asked their moms how excited they felt when they heard their progeny had been hired by the White House. Finally, they pitched their mothers on Biden’s American Families Plan.
The White House is in capable hands—their mothers said so!
Our job titles may be confusing, but our moms are still proud. This Mother’s Day, White House staffers called their moms to reflect on our journeys to public service, and the families that raised us up. To all of our moms — happy Mother’s Day. pic.twitter.com/4fmjiC9Pb8
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 8, 2021
