Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden Monday night questioned President Donald Trump's "competence and capability" for handling the coronavirus public health threat, and claimed the president is "imploding in the process" and said he should "be quiet" and let the experts speak.
"The idea that he shows up at the CDC and says that, well you know, this is like everything’s just perfect," the former vice president told MSNBC's "The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell." "There’s no sense of urgency. The American people, I think, want to know that their president is on top of this, understands it and that he’s being guided by science."
Further, Biden claimed that the Trump administration hasn't moved to take advantage of the capabilities of the health community, including preparing local hospitals, providing equipment, or training personnel.
There also seems to be "little coordination" with the rest of the world, Biden said.
"This is a worldwide pandemic," he told O'Donnell. "This is just not the United States of America. I think there’s a reason why you see the markets falling and you see the reason why people are very upset. But I think if the president were to have -- just get out of the way, let the experts at CDC and others handle this, speak to it, talk about what needs to be done, we’d all be better off . . . I wish he would just be quiet. I really mean it."
Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Biden's competitor for the presidential nomination, has said that the coronavirus emergency is another example of the need for a Medicare for all healthcare system, but Biden said he does not agree because, under his plan, all costs would be covered.
Biden said his plan calls for restoring cuts that have been made to Obamacare and putting in a public option for Medicare-like coverage.
"Let's assume everybody had Medicare covering everything now," he said. "Do you think people would be any less concerned? I don't think so."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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