After Trump tests positive, Biden campaign seeks to keep give attention to COVID-19 response
05 October, 2020
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign strove on Sunday (Oct 4) to keep its give attention to the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic, as President Donald Trump received treatment for COVID-19 at a military hospital.
Biden, who shared a debate stage with Trump last Tuesday, tested negative for the coronavirus again on Sunday, following two negative tests on Friday, the day Trump disclosed his COVID-19 infection.,
Biden and his wife, Jill, are because of resume in-person campaigning on Monday in Florida, where view polls show a good race for the state's crucial 29 electoral university votes less than per month prior to the Nov 3 election.
Biden has repeatedly wished the president a speedy recovery. However the former vice president and his aides have used his Republican rival's positive test to underline a regular campaign message: Biden would handle the pandemic much better than Trump.
In a video posted on Twitter, Trump said he had "learned a whole lot about COVID" during his stay at Walter Reed National Military INFIRMARY outside Washington.
"I learned it by really likely to school -this is the real school, this isn't the let's browse the book school - and I obtain it. And I am aware it."
Tony Blinken, the Biden campaign's foreign policy adviser, shot back on Twitter that Trump's realisations about COVID-19 were "devastating" as of this late stage.
"The time to achieve that was 200K deaths ago, not when it affected you. Most of us wish you well but also wish you'd done your task. Please do it," Blinken said.
Trump's campaign has begun describing the 74-year-old president as a "warrior" in messages to supporters that call for donations. On Sunday, Trump briefly rode in a motorcade outside his hospital to wave to supporters, igniting criticism he was putting others at risk.
Trump aides have continued to criticise Biden's cautious method of the virus.
Jason Miller, a Trump campaign senior adviser, mocked Biden on Sunday for constantly wearing a nose and mouth mask, telling ABC's This Week that the 77-year-old Democratic presidential nominee was using masks "as a prop".
Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told ABC that the Democratic nominee "has led by example", citing the campaign's make use of masks, social distancing and limits on the quantity of men and women at campaign events.
The United States has recorded 7.4 million coronavirus infections and a lot more than 209,000 deaths in the pandemic, more than any other country.
Voters could judge harshly a strategy that continues to downplay the seriousness of the virus, said Kelly Dietrich, a Democratic strategist and founder of the National Democratic Training Committee, an organization that trains party candidates.
"It has touched every American's life," he said.
CAMPAIGN GOES ON
In Florida on Monday, Biden will talk to Hispanic voters about his intend to rebuild the U.S. economy following the coronavirus, his campaign said.
More than 3.3 million ballots had recently been cast nationwide by Sunday, in line with the Elections Project at the University of Florida - as more Americans vote early or by mail in order to avoid being exposed to the virus at crowded polling places on Election Day.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken Friday and Saturday after the president tested positive for the coronavirus, found Biden leading Trump by 10 percentage points nationally and that nearly two-thirds of Americans thought that Trump probably would not have already been infected if he previously taken the virus more seriously.
As Trump's doctors and aides gave sometimes unclear messages about the president's health situation over the weekend, Biden's campaign said it would publish the results of each COVID-19 test the prospect takes.
Biden would not need to do much to reap the benefits of Trump's diagnosis, because so many Americans already viewed Trump's method of the virus as cavalier, said David Greenberg, a historian at Rutgers University.
"They're going to feel that even more now, so I don't think Biden must hammer that home too much," he said.
It remains uncertain when Trump will return to the campaign trail, if, and whether he will be able to take part in the second presidential debate on Oct 15.
Trump's campaign said on Saturday that high-profile allies including Vice President Mike Pence and Trump’s elder sons, Donald Jr and Eric, would take over in-person campaigning this week.
Pence, who tested negative on Friday, is scheduled to debate Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Wednesday.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com