Former Vice President Joe Biden on Monday shot back at President Donald Trump’s scornful take on how he’d approach the COVID-19 pandemic if elected president.
Trump focused on the coronavirus ― which has killed more than 219,000 Americans ― as he tore into Biden at a campaign rally in Carson City, Nevada, on Sunday. In a blistering speech, the president said his Democratic opponent would “surrender your future to the virus.”
“He’s going to lock down,” Trump told a crowd of about 5,000 supporters, most of whom were unmasked. “He’s going to want us to lock down. He’ll listen to the scientists.”
“If I listened totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression, instead of, we’re like a rocket ship,” the president added. “Take a look at the numbers.”
Biden needed just one word to react to the jab: “Yes.”
Coronavirus infections have surged by almost 17% across the country, with numbers increasing in 38 states and Washington, D.C. To date, the U.S. has the highest COVID-19 case count and death toll of any country in the world.
The president, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, has repeatedly dismissed and disputed science throughout the duration of the pandemic. He has also mocked others, including Biden, for following the advice of public health experts by wearing face masks and practicing social distancing.
Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates responded to Trump’s comments on Sunday.
“Donald Trump tanked the strong economy he inherited from the Obama-Biden administration by continually discounting and attacking warnings from the scientific and medical experts working around the clock to save lives,” he said in a statement to Axios. “Now new coronavirus cases are surging and layoffs are rising.”
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