The White House has released a new video of Biden speaking on the phone with an unemployed mother who lost her job because of the coronavirus pandemic and telling her what his COVID-19 relief proposal could do to immediately help Americans.
Michele is from Roseville, California, and lost her job at a startup clothing company, according to the White House. In the video, she says she was laid off for the first time ever in July and hasn’t been able to find work. She decided to write a letter to Biden.
The president, sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, offers Michele his familiar line, recounting his father's motto that a job is “a lot more than just a paycheck.”
“The idea that we think we can keep businesses open and moving and thriving without dealing with this pandemic, it's just a non-starter. We're putting together a plan that provides for emergency relief to people in desperate need now, everything from mortgage payments, to unemployment insurance, to rental subsidies, to food security for children. It provides for some small and medium-sized businesses to be able to open,” Biden tells her.
Biden also repeats that he believes his administration will deliver on his 100 million shots in 100 days plan, which leads Michele to say she “finally” got her parents an appointment and they were getting their vaccines the same day the call took place.
Biden tells Michele’s daughter that he called after reading her mother's letter because he admired “her determination" and "commitment.”
The White House says this new effort, labeled “A Weekly Conversation,” will allow Biden to regularly communicate directly with Americans. On Friday, press secretary Jen Psaki teased the video, saying Biden will continue the tradition, similar to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Fireside Chats” or Reagan’s weekly radio address, and that Biden’s effort will take on “a variety of forms.”
-ABC News' Justin Gomez
