Brian Kilmeade: Trump should ‘start coordinating’ with Biden on virus

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday said that President Trump should start coordinating with President-elect Joe Biden’s team on a coronavirus plan of action while he fights legal battles over election results. 

The president has yet to concede the race to Biden after the contest was called for the former vice president on Nov. 7. Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits in several battlegrounds including Pennsylvania, the swing state that pushed Biden over the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes. 

“I think it’s in the country’s best interest if he starts coordinating on the virus and coordinating on security with the Biden team. And just brief them,” Kilmeade said Wednesday during “Fox and Friends.”

Fox host Brian Kilmeade urges Trump to “coordinate” with Biden’s team on COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/eThJtIVRy8

— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) November 18, 2020

The Biden team has been barred from viewing classified material and meeting with administration officials during the transition period, as the General Services Administration has refused to certify Biden as the winner of the presidential election.

Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris received a briefing from national security experts Tuesday despite the hurdles.

The call for coordination from Kilmeade comes as the U.S. has seen an alarming surge in coronavirus cases across the country, with hot spots concentrated in the Midwest.

The U.S. has recorded more than 100,000 new cases daily every day this week. 

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced Wednesday morning that its coronavirus vaccine candidate showed 95 percent efficacy and added that the company would be applying for emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration within days. 

However, distribution of the vaccine will require a high level of coordination between the federal and state governments as well as between Trump and his successor. 

“On the virus, we’re going to need to be able to get this out as soon as two weeks. We need to coordinate on the transportation and implementation, and you’ll see how thorough the planning has been so we don’t drop the ball in a little while,” Kilmeade continued, appearing to reference a viable candidate for the coronavirus vaccine. 

After being named president-elect, Biden assembled a COVID-19 task force to start working on combating the virus and warned that lack of coordination with Trump could put his administration behind once he takes office on Jan. 20.

Reuters predicted that by then, the U.S. could experience between 8 million and 13 million more coronavirus cases as well as 70,000 more deaths.