Thursday, October 14, 2021

Global USA I briefed the POTUS in the Oval Office today. As usual he was a little bit late. We were supposed to have a briefing at 11:30 and it was not until after 12 that we started the briefing. The briefing was with the usual group including me, Jeff, Natalie, Vivek, Rochelle, and marcella. The President was alone and not with the vice president . We briefed him on the status of the outbreak , on the booster situation, and I briefed him on the recent data of the successful trial of Molnupiravir as an antiviral agent . Recent data showed a 50% decrease in the likelihood of hospitalization and death compared to placebo. However, during the discussion the president began to philosophize a little bit about the stress that is on the country . He refers specifically to a conversation that he had with Xi Jinping, President of China. Xi told him in a 45 minute conversation that he felt that democracies throughout the world are failing and given the need to have rapid decisions about important items, a form of dictatorship works much more efficiently the democracy. He referred to the dysfunction in the United states Congress as a perfect example of this. President Biden and his discussion with us emphasized the importance of preserving democratic principles but did bemoan the fact that we do really have a dysfunctional situation in this country and trying to get things done in an expeditious manner. Biden showed during the discussion his empathy, his kindness, that is deep feeling about the importance of democracy. It was a very interesting discussion.