FLASHBACK: Biden Called Trump's COVID-19 China Travel Ban 'Xenophobia'
While Democrats in March attack President Donald Trump for not doing enough to end the coronavirus epidemic, the same Democrats were bashing the president’s decision to ban travel from China in January.
In January, President Trump banned all foreign nationals who were in China during the time of the coronavirus outbreak from entering the United States. Many pundits and health experts have since credited this decision with helping to slow the coronavirus pandemic on American shores.
However, at the time former vice president Joe Biden railed against the decision.
During a campaign rally, Biden said that “In moments like this, this is where the credibility of a president is most needed, as he explains what we should and should not do.”
“This is no time for Donald Trump’s record of hysteria and xenophobia, hysterical xenophobia, to uh, and fear mongering,” Biden continued.
Joe Biden opposed the China travel restrictions wisely put in place by President Trump in January – restrictions that health experts credit with slowing the spread of coronavirus & saving lives.
If Biden had been in charge, more Americans would have contracted the virus faster. pic.twitter.com/yDXRYl6lOk
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) March 12, 2020
While Biden rejected President Trump’s travel ban in January, in March he has complained that the president has been “dismissive” of the virus, and that he has stifled coronavirus testing.
Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden on Thursday took direct aim at the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, saying, “The administration’s failure on testing [potential cases] is colossal.”
“We must know the true extent of this outbreak,” Biden added in prepared remarks. The United States’ coronavirus testing capacity has been widely criticized by public health experts.
The former vice president also said President Trump risks acerbating the spread of the virus by downplaying its severity and being “dismissive” of science.
It is unclear what Biden would do to combat the spread of coronavirus if elected president, as most of his public statements have focused on criticizing President Trump on the issue, and not putting forward his own plan.
National File is committed to ensuring your voice can and will be heard. To keep your speech free, we are switching our commenting platform to Insticator. Don’t worry! All you have to do is create a commenting account with Insticator. We will be transferring previous comments to our new site, and then you will be able to link your past comments to your new Insticator account. If you have any feedback or questions about your Insticator commenting account, please email them at: [email protected]
