Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is set up to be Donald Trump’s opponent in the 2020 presidential election, wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post on Monday explaining just how the president is “reverting to a familiar strategy of deflecting blame and dividing Americans” by “casting Democrats as doomsayers hoping to keep America grounded and Republicans as freedom fighters trying to liberate the economy.”
Biden goes on to criticize Trump’s handling of the coronavirus by saying that he hasn’t done what it takes to make it safe to reopen the country – despite pushing for a reopening immediately.
He hasn’t put in place the rigorous testing and worker safety protections and public health guidelines required, Biden says.
The former vice president writes, “you can shout from the rooftops that we’re open for business, but the economy will not get back to full strength if the number of new cases is still rising or plateauing and people don’t believe that it’s safe to return to normal activities.” And people don’t believe that. Correctly.
Biden goes on to offer evidence to his claims.
Biden notes, “Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) began ‘reopening’ his state’s dine-in restaurants on April 27—12 days later, according to data from restaurant-booking service OpenTable, there were still 92 percent fewer diners than there were on the same day a year ago.”
He then cites a FiveThirtyEight data showing people started staying home before their governors told them to do so. And recent polls showing that people are worried about restrictions being lifted too quickly for public safety.
Biden therefore refuses Trump’s false opposition between health and the economy, concluding that “Everybody knows that we can’t revive the latter unless we safeguard the former—and pretending otherwise is the most transparent of political ploys. Instead of once again seeking to divide us, Trump should be working to get Americans the same necessary protections he has gotten for himself.”
You can read Biden’s op-ed HERE.
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