117G die as Don fiddles
Joe: Zero leadership in crisis
DARBY, Pa. — Joe Biden called on President Trump to “wake up” to the damage being done by the coronavirus pandemic in remarks Wednesday that served as a scathing critique of the president’s leadership as the country begins to reopen.
“Donald Trump wants to style himself as a wartime president. Unlike any other wartime leader, he takes no responsibility, he exercises no leadership, now he has just flat surrendered the fight,” Biden said at a recreation center in Darby, Pa., outside of Philadelphia.
At times pounding his podium for emphasis, Biden charged that the president is trying to declare the pandemic over and done with even as it continues to kill Americans and wreak havoc on the ec onomy.
“Mr. President, don’t leave the American people to face this threat on their own, with no guidance, resources or leadership from the federal government.”
He added, “Don’t waste any more of our time.”
More than 117,000 Americans have died of COVID-19.
While Biden has spent the better part of the past month ratcheting up his critique of Trump over everything from his response to George Floyd’s killing by police to his handling of the economy, the 15-minute speech Wednesday marked his sharpest remarks yet on the president’s handling of the virus outbreak.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee attacked Trump for the high rate of U.S. deaths and charged that the economy is “still sputtering.”
With “no clear guidance” from the federal government on how businesses should respond, Biden warned the economic outlook could get worse.
“We may lose some of the progress we’ve begun to make all because he’s lost interest,” Biden said.
Earlier Wednesday, at a soul food restaurant and bar in the Philadelphia suburbs, Biden met with a handful of small-business owners for a socially-distanced listening session to hear how the coronavirus pandemic has affected their businesses.
Sitting 6 feet apart from each other around tables outdoors, the local business owners expressed concerns over a lack of guidance from the federal government on reopening.
Scott Richardson, the owner of Occasionally Yours Cafe and catering company in Swarthmore, Pa., told Biden that he voted for Trump in 2016, but now he says the president is more interested “in day trading” than long-range planning to combat the coronavirus.
Biden, in a hint of remarks to come, told the group that “no one” in the Trump administration “is taking responsibility” during the outbreak.
Last week, Biden was in Philadelphia to unveil a multifaceted plan he said would gradually reopen the economy, increasing growth while not putting business owners or consumers at unnecessary risk.
The former vice president promised that, if elected, he would guarantee testing for the virus and protective equipment to guard against its spread for people called back to work.
He also wants to use federal funds to ensure paid leave for anyone who falls ill, or cares for those who do, and to create a national contact tracing workforce or “job corps” of at least 100,000 to call people who test positive, track down their contacts and get them into quarantine.
Biden further proposed a “safe shopper” program meant to make returning consumers less wary of getting sick.