» Biden and Trump pay tribute to those killed in wars.
Dem makes first public appearance in months
NEW CASTLE, Del. — Joe Biden, who has been campaigning from his home for more than two months during the coronavirus crisis, on Monday made his first public appearance since midMarch, visiting a veterans memorial in Delaware.
He and his wife, Jill Biden, wearing black masks, laid a wreath of white flowers in a Memorial Day commemoration that hadn’t been publicly announced before the trip. Biden, a practicing Catholic, made the sign of the cross.
“Never forget the sacrifices that these men and women made,” Biden said at the Delaware Memorial Bridge. “Never, ever, forget.”
Biden briefly greeted a county official and another man, both wearing face masks and standing a few feet away. Biden also yelled to another, larger group standing nearby, “Thank you for your service.”
The presumptive Democratic nominee cut a sharp visual contrast with President Donald Trump, who generally has declined to wear a mask in public despite federal health recommendations, a posture he maintained again Monday in two Memorial Day appearances.
Though low-key, the appearance was a milestone in a presidential campaign that largely has been frozen by the coronavirus outbreak. Biden’s emergence suggests he won’t spend the nearly five months that remain until the election entirely at home.
Biden has adjusted to the coronavirus era by building an in-home television studio, which he’s used to make appearances on news programs, late-night shows and virtual campaign events. Some of those efforts have been marred by technical glitches and other awkward moments.
Biden’s advisers say they plan to return to normal campaign activities at some point, including travel to battleground states. But they’re in no hurry, preferring to defer to the advice of health experts and authorities’ stayat-home and social distancing recommendations.
“We will never make any choices that put our staff or voters in harm’s way,” Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said recently, adding that the campaign will resume more traditional activities “when safety allows, and we will not do that a day sooner.”