Former President Donald Trump reappeared this Sunday at the Orlando Conservative Political Action Conference with a speech full of criticisms of the policies launched by his successo

 

Former President Donald Trump reappeared this Sunday at the Orlando Conservative Political Action Conference with a speech full of criticisms of the policies launched by his successor, Joe Biden and in which he opened the door to be a candidate for the presidency of the United States again in 2024.

"Who knows, who knows. He might even decide to beat them a third time," he said in reference to his Democratic rivals.

"A Republican president will return to the White House. I wonder who it could be," he added.

Before an audience of supporters, Trump insisted without providing evidence that he lost in the 2020 elections because they were "rigged" and called on his followers to keep his political movement active.

"No matter how much the established power in Washington and the powerful special interests want to silence us, let there be no doubt. We will be victorious and America will be stronger and bigger than ever," he said.

The former president extinguished rumors that he could create a new party, but made it clear that he will continue to have activity within the Republican Party. "I'm not going to create a new party. We have the Republican Party. It's going to come together and get stronger than ever before."

Before a devoted public, Trump did not save on attacks against Biden, to whom he attributed "the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history", and was especially devastating with the immigration reform plan that Biden promotes in Congress of which He said that if passed, it would make the United States "a sanctuary" for irregular immigration.

Having overcome the "impeachment" for his role in the assault on the Capitol on January 6, Trump seems determined to compete for the leadership of the Republican Party or, at least, to maintain his influence.

Trump has maintained public differences with some Republican leaders critical of his performance at the end of his term, such as the leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, and charged against the members of the Party who have marked distances with him and will seek re-election in the 2022 midterm elections.

Biden promises enough vaccines for all U.S. adults by the end of May

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adults by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co.

President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adults by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson’s newly approved shot.

With the bolstered supply, Biden also announced he would be using the powers of the federal government to direct all states to prioritize vaccinating teachers, and said the federal government would provide the doses directly through its pharmacy program. He challenged states to administer at least one dose of the vaccine to all educators by the end of March as part of his administration's efforts to reopen more schools across the nation.

"We’re now on track to have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May,” said Biden, who likened the partnership between the two drug companies to the spirit of national co-operation during World War II.

Biden’s twin announcements quickly raised expectations for when the nation could safely emerge from the pandemic with the promise of additional vaccines, but it highlighted the looming challenge facing the nation: successfully putting those doses into arms.

Even as he expressed optimism, Biden quickly tempered the outlook for a return to life as it was before the virus hit.

“I’ve been cautioned not to give an answer to that because we don’t know for sure,” Biden said, before saying his hope was sometime before “this time next year.”

Biden’s speech was set against the backdrop of states across the country moving to relax virus-related restrictions. This comes despite the objections of the White House and the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who have raised alarm about new variants of the virus and pleaded against any relaxation of virus protocols until more Americans are vaccinated. In Texas, GOP Gov. Greg Abbot moved to lift his state’s mask-wearing mandate and a host of other limitations. Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer eased capacity limits on restaurants and both public and residential gatherings.

Fauci has previously said the nation must achieve a vaccination rate of about 80% to reach “herd immunity." Only about 8% of the population has been fully vaccinated according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though the pace of vaccination has been increasing, with the U.S. setting a new daily record for injections on both Thursday and Friday of last week.

In hopes of increasing vaccinations even further. the Biden administration told governors to make preparations to administer even more doses in the coming weeks. More shots are also heading toward the federally backed program to administer doses in retail pharmacies, which federal officials believe can double or triple their pace of vaccination. More than 800,000 doses of the J&J vaccine will also be distributed this week to pharmacies, on top of the 2.4 million they are now getting of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine supply.

Those pharmacies will be key in getting the vaccines into the arms of teachers — particularly in the roughly 20 states where they have not been prioritized for shots — which will help reopen schools to better educate students who have been at risk of falling behind during the pandemic and reduce the burden on parents who have had to choose between childcare and a job.

"Let’s treat in-person learning as the essential service that it is," Biden said. Teachers will be able to sign up directly through the participating retail pharmacies in their local area, the administration said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki also announced Tuesday that the federal government was increasing supply of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to states next week to 15.2 million doses per week, up from 14.5 million previously. States will also receive 2.8 million doses of the J&J shot this week.