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WARREN, Michigan: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden accused President Donald Trump of betraying the American people on Wednesday (September 9), saying he knowingly lied about the lethality of the novel coronavirus in what amounted to a “abandonment” of his should.
According to recently released recordings of interviews conducted in February for a book by journalist Bob Woodward, Trump acknowledged that he knew how deadly and contagious coronavirus was, but downplayed it because he did not want to create a panic.
With weeks until the November 3 presidential election, news of Trump’s comments refocused attention on the Republican president’s efforts to combat COVID-19, which Democrats say have been too little too late.
“He knew it, and he purposely downplayed it. Worse, he lied to the American people,” Biden said in a speech in Michigan. He was visiting the battlefield state, home to the American auto industry, to promote a new proposal to tax companies that move American jobs abroad.
“And as this deadly disease swept through our nation, he failed to do his job, on purpose. It was a life and death betrayal of the American people,” Biden said.
“It’s a breach of duty, a shame,” he said.
LEE: Deaths from COVID-19 in the US exceed 190,000; Iowa and South Dakota emerge as new hot spots
Biden and Trump are increasing travel in the final sprint to the election during a coronavirus pandemic that has made running a traditional campaign nearly impossible.
The United States has suffered the highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world. Deaths topped 190,000 on Wednesday along with an increase in new cases in the Midwest with states like Iowa and South Dakota emerging as the new hot spots in recent weeks.
The White House denied on Wednesday that Trump intentionally misled Americans about the virus. “The president never downplayed the virus,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters.
‘A BETTER WAY’
Biden also accused Trump of failing to keep his campaign promise, delivered in Michigan in the closing days of the 2016 race, to protect American jobs and prevent plant closures.
About a dozen red-shirted United Auto Workers (UAW) officials listened to Biden from folding chairs spaced for security in the Detroit suburb of Warren in crucial Republican-leaning Macomb County.
The crowd included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, but UAW President Rory Gamble did not speak as scheduled because he was in pre-emptive quarantine over concerns about the virus.
Biden, who has already proposed raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, said he would impose a 30.8% rate on profits from products made abroad and sold in the United States.
His plan provides for a supplemental 10 percent tax credit for companies that reopen closed facilities, bring jobs to the United States, or expand their manufacturing payroll.
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READ: Biden leads Trump by 12 points nationally among likely voters: Poll
While that would require congressional approval, Biden outlined several executive orders that he would sign as president, unilateral measures that ensure that the government primarily purchases products made in the United States.
“I’m not looking to punish American business, but there is a better way,” Biden said from a lectern against a backdrop of American cars: a Chevy Bolt, a Jeep, and Ford, Chevy and Dodge trucks.
“Do it in Michigan, do it in America, invest in our communities and our workers in places like Warren. That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
The comments come as the former vice president tries to persuade voters that he would be the best option to revive the coronavirus-hit US economy.
Although Biden has led Trump in virtually every national poll for months, that issue has been a sticking point, with a Reuters / Ipsos poll on Wednesday showing both candidates were dead even in the economy at 45 percent each. one.
The poll showed Biden with an overall advantage of 12 percentage points among likely voters.
