The vice president says he would tell family members to stay off planes and subways. The White House is quick with a follow-up: Avoid travel to and from Mexico; if you're sick, stay off the subway.
By Mark Silva
12:58 PM PDT, April 30, 2009
Reporting from Washington -- The White House today quickly moved to clarify -- and also to apologize for -- what Vice President Joe Biden said about avoiding airplanes and subways because of the swine flu outbreak, suggesting he really meant to say something else.
"I think what the vice president meant to say was the same thing that, again, many members [of the administration] have said in the last few days: 'If you feel sick, if you are exhibiting flulike symptoms . . . you should take precautions, you should limit your travel,' " White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.
The trouble is, that wasn't what Biden said during an early morning appearance on NBC News' "Today" show.
"I would tell members of my family, and I have, 'I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places now,' " Biden said this morning when asked for advice about flying to Mexico, epicenter of a spreading swine flu outbreak.
"It's not that it's going to Mexico. . . . It's that you're in a confined aircraft, where one person sneezes, it goes all the way through the aircraft," Biden said. "I would not be, at this point, if they had another way of transportation, suggesting they ride the subway. . . . If you're out in the middle of a field and someone sneezes, that's one thing," the vice president said. "If you're in a closed aircraft, or closed container or closed car . . . it's another thing."
At an afternoon news briefing, Gibbs said: "I think he said something on TV differently from what he meant to say. . . . Obviously, if anyone was alarmed, we apologize for that."
The U.S. travel industry was quick to complain about the comment.
Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Assn., said in a statement that "swine flu should not discourage people from traveling to or within the United States. . . . Elected officials must strike a delicate balance of accurately and adequately informing citizens of health concerns without unduly discouraging travel and other important economic activity."
But Biden's spokeswoman, Elizabeth Alexander, rallied to his defense. "The vice president was asked what he would tell a family member who was considering air travel to Mexico this week. The advice he is giving family members is the same advice the administration is giving to all Americans: that they should avoid unnecessary air travel to and from Mexico," she said.
The State Department has issued an advisory warning against travel to Mexico because of the flu outbreak there.
mdsilva@tribune.com
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