Sen. Harkin: Biden’s Flu Advice ‘Unfortunate’

Thursday, April 30, 2009 8:10 PM

By: Dave Eberhart

Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, told a radio audience this morning that Vice President Joe Biden’s impromptu advice to avoid confined places to guard against contracting swine flu was “unfortunate.”

“Well, I think that’s a very unfortunate statement by the vice president. We just don’t need that type of misinformation going out,” Harkin said, according to Iowa Radio.

Harkin was commenting about what Biden had said earlier in the day when asked about what advice he’d give his family about the flu outbreak.

Biden told NBC’s “Today” show that he’d tell them to avoid “confined spaces” like airplanes and subways.

“I would tell members of my family-- and I have -- that I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now,” Biden said, before digging himself deeper into specifics, according to a report in the NY Daily News.

“It’s not just going to Mexico -- if you’re in a confined aircraft and one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me. I would not be at this point -- if they had another way of transportation -- [be] suggesting they ride the subway.”

Later in the day, Biden’s staff in spin mode suggested that what their boss meant was that planes and trains were still okay for his family -- and they should stay off them only if they felt sick.

Whether or not Harkin had been enlightened by the Biden staff damage control is not known, but the lawmaker was not giving the vice-president any slack: “I wish the vice president had checked with the center for disease control and preparedness before he made that statement....”

Harkin then added: “As far as not riding on subways or planes, we’re not going to shut down our system -- and that doesn’t get to the nub of the problem anyway -- so I think that’s very unfortunate that this kind of misinformation got out.”

Harkin’s subcommittee oversees/drafts spending plans for the Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Public Health Service.

even the Dems weren't impressed with what he said huh?

I watched the press secretary trying to explain what he supposedly meant to say. The Media was laughing so hard the secretary looked like he could hardly keep from bustin' a gut along with them.

he has to have an interpreter with him at all times the next time

Biden is great. Ill give him credit, he is one of the few people Obama picked that actually paid his taxes.

Wow that Dumba$$ Biden sure will think twice before stating the obvious, or being honest... what an a$$hole... Politicians are supposed to lie, how dare he let down the public.

boo...even his own people are trying to cover his tracks and the government isn't standing behind what he said

One thing Ive noticed is that very few people are straying from the White Houses talking points. Biden and Lieberman being the exceptions. Lieberman took MS Incompetent to task by telling her that If closing the mexican border will save lives then it has to be considered.

I am fully aware of that, I don't think there are tracks to cover, the guy said what he felt and there was nothing misleading about what he said, so what the hell are they trying to cover, the obvious? Do we want someone to be honest of not...

Maybe we should expect the public to be smarter than they actually are, then he wouldn't have to discuss it at all, we would already know what to avoid.

Do we want someone to be honest? That's a great question. I asked that very question during the debate over the Miss California controversy.

It seems that it depends. Which I my opinion, is rather sad.

I guess someone took offense to the obvious, huh? It is a shame when the obvious cannot be stated and there is not an outrage.

tell that to his own people

So his own peole don't agree with him. My friends don't always agree with me or I with them, that does not make what he said false or dishonest, or stupid, does it. I'll leave this alone now, it's just not a big enough deal to waste too much energy on.

i didn't comment on whether what he said was a lie or stupid....i was commenting on the fact that the government and his own people seem to think so

Everyone got a big laugh at the attempts to set the record straight.