If you are a reader of RedState, you’ve seen one consistent theme among all the writers regarding COVID-19. That’s not by dictate, but by the fact that it has been such common sense for so long, that it’s jarring to see an outlet suggest anything else.

I’m talking about the fact that we have to learn to live with COVID-19. The moment it became clear this was a virus that was at least partially airborne, there was never any path to “shut down the virus” as Joe Biden infamously pronounced during the 2020 presidential campaign.

For me, living with the virus has looked like having vaccines for those who want them, but also prioritizing therapeutics and forgoing pointless mitigation measures (i.e. masks and lockdowns) that obviously don’t stop the spread. But instead of leaning into that common-sense path, the Biden administration, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, has consistently preached limiting infections when we simply have no way to do that. That pipe dream has been used as an excuse for several different federal power grabs, including the vaccine mandates.

But now, for the first time, Biden is publicly admitting defeat regarding COVID-19.

BIDEN, TODAY: “There is no federal solution” to COVID.

BIDEN, 2020: “I’m going to shut down the virus.” pic.twitter.com/3d1RaHRcyX

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 27, 2021

Welcome to where the rest of us have been for nearly two years. But don’t give the president too much credit. He’s only doing this because the situation has become so untenable. His only move at this point is to claim he never could have fixed things in the first place. But as I’ve shared before, that was nowhere near his message when he ran for the office he now holds.

The next part of this should be to ask the White House why we still need vaccine mandates? Clearly, they don’t stop the spread of the virus and are a failing measure, and the president is now openly admitting there’s no federal solution to the pandemic. So will he get rid of his illegal OSHA order that’s now before the Supreme Court? Don’t count on it.

Of course, even in doing something as simple as admitting defeat, Biden managed to screw things up. In his remarks, he made the ludicrous assertion that he didn’t know there would be a winter COVID surge this year.

Joe Biden says if he had “known” about the winter surge in COVID, he "would have gone harder and quicker” on testing.

Biden is lying. He was warned! pic.twitter.com/1XcUa7iXda

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 27, 2021

Do you know who knew there’d be a winter surge this year? Literally, everyone paying attention because COVID has been obviously seasonal since at least the fall of 2020. Yet, the President of the United States just had no idea. That should scare you.

Heck, here’s what I had to say about that back in August when the media were hyperventilating over Florida’s case numbers.

My response to that has been consistent: COVID appears to be seasonal, and certain parts of the country will see waves at different times, just like we saw in 2020. That Florida and Texas, who both had a wave around this same time last summer, are seeing that happen again is not proof that they are doing “something wrong.” Rather, the timing is cyclical, and my assertion on that will be proven correct, as we see spikes in other states begin to occur.

Lo and behold, here we are in December of 2021 with the North East and other parts of the country getting absolutely slammed. And with Florida standing alone as the punching bag, Biden needed a way out. This is his way out: To kick things back to the states and act as if he didn’t promise a miracle he didn’t deliver on.

Unfortunately for him, no one is going to buy this shift after everything he and his party have said prior. Given that, you can expect the low approval ratings to continue.