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Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, has said he was not surprised by Donald Trump’s coronavirus infection and delivered a forceful reprimand: “Masks matter.”
Speaking at an NBC television event at Miami, Florida City Hall, the former vice president drew a stark contrast to Trump, who, upon returning to the White House just an hour earlier, instantly removed his mask for a photo shoot.
“I hope that the president, having been through what he’s been through, and I’m glad he seems to be going pretty well, will deliver the right lesson to the American people,” Biden told moderator Lester Holt on an outdoor stage. .
“Masks matter. These masks matter. It matters. Save lives. It prevents the spread of the disease. Social distancing: All I heard was one of the tweets saying that, you know, don’t worry so much about all of this, essentially. There is a lot to worry about. “
Shortly after his return to the White House, Trump recorded a triumphant statement on video in which he claimed to be overcoming the virus and urged Americans: “Don’t let it take over you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat him. “
More than 200,000 people in the US have died from Covid-19, the highest total in the world.
Holt noted that a recent poll found that two out of three people think the president has some responsibility for contracting this virus. Biden agreed: “Look, anyone who gets the virus essentially saying, masks don’t matter, social distancing doesn’t matter, I think it is – they are responsible for what happens to them.”
Taking and displaying his own mask, he forcefully added: “I see wearing this mask not so much to protect myself, but as a patriotic responsibility. All the tough guys say, ‘I’m not wearing a mask. I’m not scared. ‘
“Well, be afraid for your husband, your wife, your son, your daughter, your neighbor or your coworker. That’s who you are protecting with this mask. And it should be considered a patriotic duty to protect those around you. “
News of Trump’s positive test broke early Friday morning. “Frankly, I wasn’t surprised,” Biden said. “The idea that Covid doesn’t spread around when you’re not wearing a mask, when you’re not distancing yourself socially, when there are large groups of people, when you’re indoors particularly but even when you’re outside, that’s not surprising.”
He said that presidents should be transparent about their health, although he also “can understand that, in certain circumstances related to national security, where all the details would not be released in the middle of a particular crisis … only on the margins. and only for the moment. “
When asked if he had called the president and first lady Melania Trump, who is also infected, he replied: “No, I did not. I asked if I should do that, and the decision was that it would probably be intrusive. “
Biden’s campaign security protocols have been vastly different from Trump’s laissez-faire approach. The candidate, who is tested regularly, has held small, low-key events in which journalists and others are tested multiple times and required to physically distance themselves. While Biden was speaking to the media at an airport Monday, his wife, Jill, pushed him aside to make sure he was six feet away.
Biden shared a debate stage with Trump less than a week ago, but the two did not shake hands and remained more than six feet apart. Biden, who is 77 years old and has tested negative since then, said he was not concerned for his own safety but was disturbed to see Trump’s family and staff avoiding masks at the hearing.
“It was a bit disconcerting to look outside and see that in their entire section, no one had masks, while my wife was sitting lower down, she had a mask; the people who accompanied us wore masks. I didn’t quite understand it. “
The debate was widely described as the worst in US political history due to Trump’s constant intimidation and interruptions. Biden demanded a point: “You want to shut up, man?” and in another he called Trump a “clown.” Subsequently, Biden’s national advantage over Trump jumped to 14 percentage points in an NBC News / WSJ poll.
“I was trying to figure out how I could get him to respect the debate, respect the night, respect the moderator and give us a chance to speak,” Biden recalled. “The only thing that was absolutely clear is that I didn’t want to answer any questions. He didn’t want to talk about substance.
“If you notice, not once in your memory did he offer a substantive response or criticism related to a policy issue. Everything was invective. It was all personal. It was all the things that had nothing to do with whether you are going to change these people’s lives for the better. And I was very frustrated. I was frustrated. And I should have said, this is a clown company, instead of calling it a clown. “
“But the fact is, I will be very honest with you. I think it was embarrassing for the nation to see the President of the United States just intimidating the way he did, and it was all a personal attack. “
Questions from the audience ranged from whether the police should be underfunded to the claim that Biden would allow socialism. With a reference to Senator Bernie Sanders, he said, “Look, I’m the guy who took on a socialist. Remember I got in trouble throughout [primary] campaign: Joe Biden is too centrist, too moderate, direct … there is not a single syllable that he has said that can lead you to believe that I am a socialist or a communist. “
