Biden: I don’t want to be in a political fight with Trump over coronavirus

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he does not want to be in a political fight with President Trump over the coronavirus outbreak but that he would continue to call the president out on misinformation regarding the virus. 

“I have not been criticizing the president, but I’ve been pointing out where there is disagreement on how to proceed,” Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said on ABC’s “The View.” 

“The coronavirus is not his fault, but the lack of speed with which to respond to it has to move much faster,” he continued. “This is not about Democrat or Republican. This is not about what your party is. It’s about getting through this.” 

“The American people don’t want us in a political fight, and I want no part of a political fight either, but when the president says things that turn out not to be accurate, we should not say ‘you’re lying,’ we should say ‘Mr. President that’s not the facts, here’s the deal.’ “

.@JoeBiden: “The coronavirus is not [Pres. Trump’s] fault, but the lack of speed… with which to respond to it, has to move much faster.” https://t.co/FDroID2DLg pic.twitter.com/pdkWQmOZHO

— The View (@TheView) March 24, 2020

Biden also criticized Trump’s response to the crisis in a briefing streamed online Monday by his campaign, calling the White House response a “failure of planning and preparation.” 

“My point is not simply that the president was wrong,” Biden said. “My point is that the mindset that was slow to recognize the problem in the first place, to treat it with a seriousness it deserved, is still too much a part of how the president is addressing the problem.”

The Trump campaign hit back at Biden, saying the former vice president should “answer for his own failed record on public health.” The campaign also accused Biden of mishandling the swine flu pandemic from 2009, saying that at the time the administration failed to stockpile respirators.