‘We need to shut Trump up now, he is undermining our doctors and scientists’
THE question posed by CNN’s Jake Tapper to the Democratic presidential contenders in an audience-free studio in Washington spoke to a moment of global crisis: What is the most important thing you would do to save American lives if you were president now?
Former Vice-President Joe Biden talked about pushing for more test kits and hospital beds for those infected with the novel coronavirus, as well as financial relief for Americans losing income as a result of widespread shutdowns and social distancing.
His opponent Senator Bernie Sanders was about to stump for the need for Medicare-forall, but there was something else he thought would help save American lives during the pandemic.
“First thing we have got to do, whether or not I’m president, is to shut this president up right now, because he is undermining the doctors and the scientists who are trying to help the American people,” Mr Sanders said of President Donald Trump.
“It is unacceptable for him to be blabbering with un-factual information which is confusing the general public,” Mr Sanders said.
Mr Sanders’s criticism of Mr Trump and his administration’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak came at the end of a weekend of social distancing that saw the economy and American culture shift again to address the spread of the infection throughout the country.
Earlier this week, there have been close to 169,000 confirmed cases and roughly 6,500 reported deaths worldwide.
In the United States, the coronavirus has been reported in nearly every state, with roughly 3,500 confirmed cases and 66 reported deaths.
Citing the risk of virus, the United States Centres for
Disease Control and Prevention urged a nationwide stop to gatherings of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks.
Dramatic
In the most dramatic move by the US Federal Reserve since the 2008 financial crisis, the central bank made an emergency interest rate cut to zero.
Several major US cities, including New York and Los Angeles, ordered schools, bars and restaurants to close in attempts to flatten the spread of coronavirus.
The Sunday night debate between Mr Biden and Mr Sanders also capped another stretch that saw lawmakers and critics slam the president for his administration’s lack of direction and reassurance to the nation in response to the outbreak.
After declaring a national emergency on Friday, Mr Trump’s physician announced over the weekend that the president, who had come in
contact with multiple people who had contracted the disease, had tested negative for coronavirus.
On Saturday, the House of Representatives, with Mr Trump’s support, passed an economic relief bill worth tens of billions of dollars to help those Americans who are affected by the crisis, helping cover paid sick leave, unemployment insurance and free testing.
Mr Trump did not directly respond to Mr Sanders’s critique on Sunday night, but described the debate on Twitter as “VERY boring”.
Instead, he saved his most pointed vitriol for the Democratic runner Mr Biden in retweets which slammed the former vice president’s performance.
The president also took time on Sunday to again taunt Mr Biden for his role in President Barack Obama’s administration’s response to the H1N1 flu outbreak of 2009. (© The Washington Post)