Joe Biden blasts Donald Trump for trying to create 'some kind of racial contest' by talking up Confederates instead of discussing coronavirus - and he slams him for playing 'yet another round of golf' amid crisis
Joe Biden knocked President Trump on Friday for focusing on things like saving Confederate monuments over responding to the growing coronavirus crisis.
'The way the president tries to turn this all into some kind of racial contest. It's immoral,' Biden said, alluding to how Trump has chosen to focus on culture war issues in recent days, instead of the COVID-19 spike.
Biden participated in a livestream with members from the National Education Association, even joking that he'd be 'sleeping alone in the Lincoln Bedroom,' if he didn't take education policy seriously because wife, Jill, is a teacher.
Earlier in the day he took a swipe at Trump for playing 'yet another round of golf' while the coronavirus crisis looms, as the president spent part of the Fourth of July Friday observed holiday at his Virginia golf property.
'We are five months into this crisis, and our health care workers still don't have the masks and protective equipment they need. It's a national disgrace,' the presumptive Democratic nominee tweeted Friday, while Trump was on the course. 'Mr. President, use your authority and fix the shortage of PPE before you tee off for yet another round of golf.'
Joe Biden knocked President Trump for focusing on culture war issues like preserving Confederate monuments over responding to the coronavirus crisis when he talked to educators Friday who belonged to the National Education Association
Biden, who appeared wearing a mask before the livestream began, joked to members of the National Education Association that he would be 'sleeping alone in the Lincoln Bedroom' if he didn't take education policy seriously, because wife Jill is a teacher
Biden used lines from a speech he delivered Tuesday in Wilmington, Delaware, where he went after the president's response to the crisis, saying Trump had 'surrendered'
Joe Biden sent out a tweet Friday slamming President Trump for playing 'yet another round of golf.' He made similar comments during his speech on the coronavirus crisis in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday
President Trump, holding a bundle of newspapers and wearing a red Make America Great Again hat, returns to the White House Friday after a trip to his Washington golf club
President Trump's motorcade is seen entering the Trump National Golf Course in Sterling, Virginia Friday morning. Later Friday, Trump will travel to Mount Rushmore for a Fourth of July event
Biden was repeating lines from the speech he delivered in Wilmington, Delaware Tuesday, when he argued that Trump had 'surrendered' to the virus.
The president has downplayed continued problems the U.S. is having dealing with the virus as the cases per day in the country have topped 50,000.
Instead he's tweeted about culture war issues. He threated to veto a massive defense spending bill over a provision to rename military bases still named for Confederate fighters.
He railed against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to paint 'Black Lives Matter' on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower, calling it a 'symbol of hate.'
On Thursday, during an appearance in the White House briefing room, Trump touted the 4.8 million jobs added to the economy, while never mentioning the 50K figure.
He said the new COVID-19 cases were 'being handled' and that the administration was 'putting out the fires.'
'It's got a life. And we are putting out that life because it's a bad life that we're talking about,' he said of the virus.
He also continued to push for a swift reopening of the economy, mentioning he'd like to see people go back to church, despite Republican-led states like Texas imposing mask-wearing mandates and closing down bars to deal with the recent spike.
'And now we're opening up and it's opening up far faster than anybody thought even possible and more successful,' the president said Thursday.
In the briefing room, Trump also said that on a call with governors and Vice President Mike Pence none of them asked for any additional medical equipment.
What Trump didn't note is that Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey had asked Pence for 500 medical personnel to handle the growing crisis in his state.
Critics are also angry that the president could be promoting further spread of the coronavirus by headlining two back-to-back Fourth of July events.
After golfing Friday, he'll travel to South Dakota to deliver a speech and take in a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore.
Then on Saturday, he will host his 'Salute to America' celebration from the White House, complete with military flyovers, prior to the annual fireworks display.
Medical experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci who sits on the White House's coronavirus taskforce, have said Americans need to avoid large crowds.
The Mount Rushmore event will be capped at 7,500 people, but South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said there weren't plans for social distancing, though officials would be handing out masks.
The Department of the Interior has 30,000 masks ready for the crowd that is expected to show up on the National Mall for the Fourth of July holiday.
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Wednesday that she had warned the Interior Department that the gathering went against Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, but she has no authority over the festivities because they're being held on federal lands.
