POLITICS

Key Takeaways from the Biden Town Hall — By Topic

Our president is steady, sometimes vague, but earnest, honest, and wants you to know that he’s not kidding around

Well, that was a mildly interesting but overall uneventful evening. If you could get past the odd and constant reminders by the president that he was “not kidding, “not joking,” and “not being facetious” — we know, Joe, you’re not kidding! — there were some important takeaways from last night’s CNN Town Hall with President Biden. (If you missed it, you can watch Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 online.) Immediately, there was a deluge of criticism from Trumpland, the right, and the Mean Girls on Twitter, who mostly lambasted CNN for the town hall being too softball and Lemon for being too much of an “activist.” Let them squawk. Here are some key takeaways, categorized by topic of discussion:

• Pandemic: The president is waiting for the board of scientists that he has appointed as his advisors to tell him when vaccines will be ready for children. Kids are likely to be in masks in school, no matter what, this fall. And the vaccines most of us have taken should be formally approved by the FDA in the fall, as well — as opposed to being under emergency authorization. Very strangely, he said that if you are vaccinated, you…