BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — President Joe Biden has complimented Gov. Ivey on her recent statements regarding COVID-19, saying that Ivey and other conservatives have “seen the Lord.”

At an event in Arlington, Virginia, Biden noted that recent increases in coronavirus cases have been overwhelmingly among the unvaccinated.

“What we have now is a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Biden said.

He then commented on conservatives from the media to government that he characterized as having changed their tune on the pandemic.

“You notice a lot of our very conservative friends have finally had an altar call. They’ve seen the Lord. Whether it’s on FOX News, or whether it’s the most conservative commentators or governors. Thank God for the governor of Alabama, at one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, is now — and I’m genuinely complimenting her,” he said. “I know it’s gotten a bit politicized, but I hope it’s starting to change. It’s not about red states or blue states.”

Ivey made headlines last week with comments made in response to CBS 42’s Jake Chapman. Her remarked foreshadowed Biden’s comments in Virginia about “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

“Let’s be crystal clear about this issue,” Ivey said at an event Thursday. “And media, I want you to start reporting the facts. The new cases of COVID are because of unvaccinated folks. Almost 100% of the new hospitalizations are with unvaccinated folks. And the deaths are certainly occurring with the unvaccinated folks. These folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain.”