WASHINGTON – In a sign that the 2020 presidential campaign is finally beginning in earnest, former Vice President Joe Biden appeared on camera Thursday morning to offer an alternate picture of what President Donald Trump had called, a few hours previously, “spectacular” and “” record work “report.
“Make no mistake, we are still in a deep, deep hole because Donald Trump has messed up the response to the coronavirus,” Biden said in prepared comments that were streamed live through cable news channels.
“For all those whose work has not returned, for all who have no shares, who cannot get a love loan through connections, does this feel like a victory?” said the alleged Democratic candidate.
“For parents who are concerned that children may not be able to return to school in the fall, do you think this is a mission accomplished? For people in the states where Covid-19 is shooting, and we are seeing record numbers of infections, do you feel this crisis is under control? Of course not. People are scared. They are worried about their families and their future. “
“Just like last month, President Trump has shot the ball and did this for him,” Biden said, referring to a traditional touchdown celebration. “He doesn’t seem to realize he’s not even on the 50-yard line.”
The jobs report for Thursday in June was certainly good news for the president, as it showed 4.8 million jobs were added to the economy last month, a significant increase over analyst expectations.
Trump took that front-line figure and ran with it, hastily organizing an appearance in the White House meeting room to promote what he called his administration’s accomplishment in both managing the coronavirus pandemic and “rescue”. of the American economy.
“So these are numbers that are not numbers that other presidents would have. They won’t have them,” Trump said after reading several of the statistics from Thursday’s report, and spraying them with other economic and market statistics from before and after the start of the pandemic.
“The only thing that can kill him is a bad president or a president who wants to raise taxes. He wants to raise taxes, all of this, his 401 (k) s will fall to nothing and his stock market will fall to nothing,” Trump said. “This is not just luck, what is happening. This is a lot of talent. All this incredible news is the result of historical actions that my administration has taken working with our partners in Congress to rescue the American economy from a horrible event” .
But analysts were quick to point out that the figures reported today were two weeks old. Since mid-June, rates of coronavirus infection have skyrocketed in states that began to reopen. This week, the governors of several of the nation’s most populous states announced plans to reverse previous reopens.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered the immediate closure of businesses with indoor operations in 19 counties. The order applies to some of the state’s largest counties: Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Santa Barbara. Indoor companies to close include restaurants, wineries and tasting rooms, movie theaters, family entertainment centers, zoos, museums and game rooms, Newsom said at a press conference.
Republican Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on Monday withdrew the state’s reopening plan, closing bars, gyms, movie theaters and water parks. Since then, the state has reported an increase in its positivity rate, or the percentage of total positive tests, from a low of 4.9% in May to 20.1% in June, it said in announcing the reversal.
“We cannot have the illusion that this virus will go away on its own. Our expectation is that next week our numbers will be worse. It will take several weeks for the mitigation that we have implemented and are implementing to take effect,” Ducey said.
On Wednesday, the United States registered the highest number of new cases registered: 50,600. Within that figure, the sad reality is that most states currently experiencing the largest increase in new cases, such as Florida, Arizona and Texas, are states led by Republicans who followed Trump’s advice earlier this year to reopen their economies as soon as possible. .
Still, Trump praised his own administration for implementing what he called “an aggressive strategy to beat and kill the virus and protect Americans at the highest risk, while allowing those at lower risk to return safely to work.” .
“That is what is happening,” Trump said, adding: “Our health experts continue to address temporary hot spots in certain cities and counties, and we are working very hard on that.”
But with new record infection rates in dozens of states, “temporary hot spots in certain cities and counties” don’t accurately describe what’s happening.
“It didn’t have to be that way,” Biden said Thursday. “The United States has reported more deaths and infections than anywhere else in the world. Our healthcare workers are still rationing personal protective equipment. They still do not have enough evidence to allow people to return to work with confidence,” he said.
“President Trump made wearing a mask a political statement. And yesterday, yesterday, he once again stated that the coronavirus, by citing it, would simply go away, I hope,” Biden said, accurately quoting Trump’s interview a day earlier.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have also said they do not believe a mask mandate is necessary at the national level. Pence also said Thursday that the administration will continue to push for the economy to reopen, even if it supports the governors’ decisions to stop their plans.
“Stop hoping for the best, Mr. President. Stop claiming victory with nearly 15 million Americans still out of work because of the crisis. Stop ignoring the reality of this pandemic and the horrible loss of American lives. Take action. Lead. Lead or get out of the way so others can, “Biden concluded.
Biden’s comments were the second time this week that he criticized the president for the administration’s inability to respond to the resurgence of the coronavirus. On Tuesday, Biden presented his own five-point plan to address the pandemic, one of several contrasts he drew between Trump and himself.
The former vice president said he would provide free coronavirus testing across the country, deploy 100,000 contact trackers, set national standards for reopening, use the Defense Production Act to further increase protective equipment manufacturing, and provide additional federal support. older people of color, who have been especially affected by the virus.
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