After Donald Trump’s appearance at today’s White House coronavirus task force briefing, Joe Biden released the following statement:
To beat this virus and re-open our country, America needs more testing now — not weeks down the road — but all we’ve gotten from President Trump and the White House have been excuses and buck-passing.
The administration’s response on testing has been so slow, and so ineffective, that the Governor of Maryland — a Republican — had to turn to South Korea to get badly-needed tests. Think about that: a Governor had to turn to a country halfway around the world for aid because he couldn’t rely on timely help from a President and a White House that sits just miles from his state’s border.
Both Democratic and Republican governors are pleading for assistance on testing but instead of taking responsibility and partnering with the states to get it done, Trump shamefully accused them today of being “partisan” and “playing politics” by asking for critical help from the federal government.
And, instead of quickly and fully deploying the Defense Production Act to secure materials like swabs to ramp up our testing capacity — as I called for over a month ago — Trump is only now beginning to address the shortage of swabs after an unacceptable test slowdown that has left us far below where we need to be to re-open our country, and with countless Americans left with horrible uncertainty as they and their loved ones fight this disease.
It's clear the president has no interest in solving this problem and saving lives. That's why I've called for Congress to step in and establish a Pandemic Testing Board to ensure our governors have the tests and supplies they need to beat the virus and reopen the economy. A Board like this helped us win World War II -- it can help us win this fight too.
As I’ve said before, President Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus, but his failure to take swift action, listen to the experts, and bring people together — not launch political attacks — has cost us grievously. With the U.S. now leading the globe in confirmed cases and deaths, and with more than 22 million Americans having filed for unemployment claims, the time for more excuses from President Trump is over. It’s long past time to listen to our experts, fully implement the DPA, and finally get it done.
Absolutely.
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