Trump keeps attacking Biden for trying to keep Americans safe

Donald Trump and his aides have been continually attacking former Vice President Joe Biden during the COVID-19 pandemic, baselessly suggesting Biden has an ulterior motive for working to mitigate crowd sizes as he campaigns to stop the spread of the virus.

“Joe Biden wanted the date for the Democrat National Convention moved to a later time period. Now he wants a ‘Virtual’ Convention, one where he doesn’t have to show up. Gee, I wonder why?” Trump tweeted Monday morning.

Biden — who is the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination — advocated for pushing the party convention later into the summer thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden also raised the possibility of holding a virtual convention.

“Well, we’re going to have to do a convention. We may have to do a virtual convention. I think we should be thinking about that right now,” Biden said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“The idea of holding the convention is going to be necessary. We may not be able to put 10, 20, 30,000 people in one place and that’s very possible,” he added.

It’s unclear exactly what Trump — who has pushed for reopening the country for business earlier than experts suggest — is inferring with his tweet.

But Trump, his campaign aides, and even Trump family members have recently accused Biden of lacking mental fitness in the absence of any evidence.

The White House, Trump campaign, and Trump-supporting media even circulated an edited and misleading video in an attempt to smear Biden.

Earlier in March, when Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) began canceling in-person rallies to stop the spread of COVID-19, Trump and his aides accused Biden of wanting to hide from the public.

“They’re saying they’re canceling these rallies because of the coronavirus. No, they’re desperate to get Joe Biden off the campaign trail,” Trump campaign spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany said March 11 on a Fox News radio program.

Biden, for his part, used Trump’s attack tweet to draw attention to the administration’s slow response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“Mr. President, I hope we can gather in Milwaukee, but that is going to depend on you stepping up and doing what needs to be done to handle this pandemic,” Biden responded on Twitter. “I have laid out how you can do that: https://joebiden.com/covid19-leadership/. Happy to discuss anytime.”

A Washington Post report published Saturday showed that the administration lagged as the novel coronavirus spread, wasting 70 days that could have been used to create and procure diagnostic tests and produce the kind of resources needed to treat patients stricken with the virus, such as personal protective equipment and ventilators.

According to the Post’s report, which was based on nearly four dozen interviews with administration officials, the slow response is Trump’s fault.

“Many of the failures to stem the coronavirus outbreak in the United States were either a result of, or exacerbated by, his leadership,” the Post reported.

Biden’s campaign has offered to set up a call between Biden and Trump to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, after Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway questioned why Biden wasn’t offering help. It’s unclear where that conversation stands.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.