Is COVID over? Yes at the border, no on planes. Make up your mind, President Biden

Is the COVID-19 pandemic over?

Depends which part of the Biden administration you ask — and which day.

Can we finally let people on public transit travel without masks? Nope, too soon. That’s been pushed back to May 3.

Are things sufficiently back to normal that people should have to resume payments on their student loans? Oh, heavens no.

“We are still recovering from the pandemic and the unprecedented economic disruption it caused,” President Joe Biden said as he extended the freeze on loan payments. Things are so bad, we can’t expect anyone to meet their obligations until at least September.

Surely, then, COVID restrictions to allow quick deportation of those entering the country illegally are still necessary, right?

You must be new here. That “Title 42” policy is ending May 23.

The very people who smugly promised during the 2020 campaign to “follow the science” can’t resist using COVID for their desired policy outcomes.

The explanations are increasingly ridiculous and contradictory. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, admitted that the Title 42 change could mean more COVID cases but said that “the cross-border spread of COVID-19 due to covered noncitizens does not present the serious danger to public health that it once did.”

Those evildoers who want to eat pretzels on a plane in peace endanger us all, though. The CDC said it needs the mask policy to continue so it can “assess the potential impact the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity.”

Allow one, assess the other. It’s science!

But then, it’s clear the Biden administration can increasingly neither control events nor provide satisfying explanations. Everyone at the White House, from the president on down, is trying to convince you that “Putin’s price hike” is responsible for the worst inflation the U.S. has seen in 40 years. As if anyone who pumped gas, bought groceries or shopped for a car didn’t see breathtaking price increases long before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine.

Biden’s low approval ratings show how few Americans believe in either the administration’s words or its actions. The volatile border security and economic situations could mean it gets even worse from here for the president.

By then, it may not matter if the explanations are convoluted. Few will be listening.

Editor’s note: A version of this column originally appeared in our conservative opinion newsletter, Right Turns. It’s delivered every Saturday with a fresh take on the news and a roundup of our best center-right opinion content. Sign up here.