Biden, Harris focus on COVID-19 crisis
WILMINGTON: Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden and his running mate Kamala Harris will put the coronavirus pandemic front and centre in their campaign on Thursday, targeting Donald Trump’s response to the health and economic crises ahead of November’s election.
Fresh off Wednesday’s campaign rollout that featured the pair together for the first time showcasing their vision for the nation, they will meet with public health experts in Delaware.
Biden and Harris are to deliver remarks aterwards, according to the campaign — a signal to voters that curbing the spread of the virus is a top priority and major election issue.
They will likely unleash a second straight day of vigorous criticism of Trump, whom Democrats widely accuse of mishandling the US response to a pandemic that has claimed more than 166,000 lives, the world’s highest death toll.
Harris warned on Wednesday that Trump’s “mismanagement” of the pandemic has plunged the nation into the deepest health crisis in a century and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
“There’s a reason ( the coronavirus) has hit America worse than any other advanced nation. It’s because of Trump’s failure to take it seriously from the start,” she said.
Harris lamented “his refusal to get testing up and running. His flip-flopping on social distancing and wearing masks. His delusional belief that he knows beter than the experts.”
Biden raised $26 million in the 24 hours ater he named Harris as his running mate, doubling his previous one-day record and signalling enthusiasm among Democrats following the selection of the first Black woman on a major party’s presidential ticket.
“It’s really palpable, the excitement,” Biden said on Wednesday.
Trump on Thursday said his team was rejecting Democrats’ bid to include funds for the US Postal Service and to shore up election infrastructure in a new coronavirus relief bill, as he vowed to block money to facilitate mail-in voting. Congressional Democrats accused Trump of trying to damage the struggling Postal Service in an effort to improve his chances of being re-elected in November.
Trump said his negotiators have resisted Democrats’ calls for additional money to help prepare for presidential, congressional and local voting during a pandemic that has killed more than 165,000 Americans and presented severe logistical challenges to organising large events like the Nov.3 election.