BIDEN CAMPAIGN TO RELEASE RESULT OF EVERY CORONAVIRUS TEST

Candidate promises transparency; will take another test today

Joe Biden’s campaign said Saturday it will now disclose the results of every coronavirus test the candidate takes, following increased pressure for more transparency after President Donald Trump recently tested positive for the virus and Vice President Mike Pence has released results for two consecutive days.

“We have adhered to strict and extensive safety practices recommended by public health experts and doctors in all of our campaigning — including social distancing, mask wearing, and additional safeguards,” campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. “Vice President Biden is being tested regularly, and we will be releasing the results of each test.”

Bates did not say how often Biden would be undergoing such tests, beyond saying they would happen on a regular basis. Biden, who tested negative on Friday, told reporters that he had not undergone a test on Saturday but would today.

Biden’s approach has come under increased scrutiny now that Trump has been hospitalized. Unlike Trump, Biden has made a point of abiding by the recommendations of public health officials, although he has continued his travel despite his proximity to Trump on the debate stage last Tuesday.

Biden’s campaign has scrapped a partially indoor event and suspended negative ads since Trump’s diagnosis, while the candidate himself took the unusual step of wearing a mask throughout an entire speech and, on Saturday, declined to criticize the president during a town hall event with transit workers.

With Election Day now a month away, the campaign is trying to figure out how to approach an unprecedented situation with the 74year-old incumbent hospitalized and the 77-year-old challenger himself at risk.

“I really don’t think that anybody knows how it changes the dynamics yet,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-LA., Biden’s campaign cochairman.

Richmond did predict that Biden’s message will shift to focus less on Trump and more on Biden’s plans should he win. “I think you stick more to policy,” he said, noting that Biden has already put the need for better management of the pandemic at the center of his pitch.

On Saturday, Biden was initially reluctant to criticize Trump during a virtual event with members of the Amalgamated Transit

Union when he was asked how he would handle the coronavirus pandemic differently.

“Fundamentally differently,” Biden said. Then he added, “I’m in a little bit of a spot here because I don’t want to be attacking the president and the first lady now, because they’ve now contracted the coronavirus. Jill and I pray for their quick recovery.”

But Biden went on to ridicule Trump for not providing enough personal protective equipment to workers most at risk of catching the coronavirus.

“If that’s not the president’s responsibility, what the hell — what the heck — is his responsibility?” Biden said, before taking on a mocking tone. “‘Not my fault, I have no responsibility. Go to your mayor, your governor, your employer.’ It’s unconscionable!”

Trump’s prognosis remains uncertain, and it may be difficult for the Biden camp to formulate a longer-term strategy until it becomes clear how serious the president’s condition is. An ill president tends to evoke empathy and concern, though Trump’s situation is more complicated because he so openly flouted health recommendations and expressed contempt for those who did follow the rules, including Biden.

Instead of focusing on his critique of Trump, Biden has reiterated his commitment to maskwearing, an implicit rebuke to the president’s reluctance to wear a face covering.

“Here’s what I’ll do as president,” Biden said in his remarks Saturday. “Number one, call on every single American to wear a mask when around other people outside their households. That includes when they ride public transportation, buses, trains, airplanes.”