Joe Biden has struggled to remain relevant since he announced his presidential campaign in April 2019. That task became a lot more difficult since the outbreak of coronavirus.
Before his campaign finally acknowledged the crisis, Team Biden was already limiting public appearances. From 10-minute campaign “rallies” to scripted television interviews, Biden was doing his best to run a campaign without appearing in public.
When the establishment media was still working around the clock to save Biden’s campaign from Bernie Sanders, that plan was working. However, once 24/7 coverage transitioned to COVID-19, Biden remained stuck in his basement bunker, out of sight and out of mind.
His solution to this problem? Attack President Trump’s response to coronavirus with no regard for the truth.
Here are Joe Biden’s six most egregious COVID-19 lies:
1. President Trump called coronavirus a hoax
Editing President Trump out of context is Democrats’ favorite way to exploit this national emergency for political purposes. Biden’s campaign took two separate statements made by the president at a rally to make it look like he said, “Coronavirus, this is their new hoax.” If you go through the transcript of the president’s statements that night, it is clear that it never happened. President Trump rightfully said the politicization of the crisis is a hoax, just like the Russia witch hunt and the impeachment charade. The Washington Post even awarded Biden four Pinocchios for manipulating the video. But President Trump never said, and never would say, the disease itself is a hoax.
2. The Trump administration rejected WHO coronavirus test kits
During the March 15 presidential debate, Biden asserted the Trump administration “refused to get coronavirus testing kits from the World Health Organization,” while attacking the president for his handling of the COVID-19 response. The truth? WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said, “No discussion occurred between WHO and CDC about WHO providing COVID-19 tests to the United States.” How could President Trump reject something that was never offered?
3. Trump eliminated entities responsible for global health security and biodefense
On March 19, Biden tweeted, “The Obama-Biden Administration set up the White House National Security Council Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense to prepare for future pandemics like COVID-19. Donald Trump eliminated it.” This characterization, however, completely distorts what happened. After President Trump took office, the NSC established the counterproliferation and biodefense directorate, which included global health and biodefense. Tim Morrison, who ran the new directorate, claimed this change made America’s biodefense response even stronger.
4. Trump made no effort to get medical professionals to China
At the end of March, during an interview with Anderson Cooper, Biden said, “You should get into China and get our experts there. We have the best in the world. Get them in so we know what is actually happening. There was no effort to do that.” However, on January 6, the Trump administration began offering to send a CDC team to China, one week after China publicly acknowledged the virus. On January 7, the CDC set up its coronavirus incident management system before the first death was reported and while China was still claiming there was no evidence the virus could spread from human to human. And on January 8, CDC representatives visited Wuhan.
5. Trump told governors they were on their own in getting medical equipment
During a CNN town hall, Joe Biden said President Trump told governors they were on their own in getting medical equipment. The problem? That’s not what the president said. Although many liberal news outlets ran with the first half of President Trump’s quote, “Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves,” the second half of the quote clearly said, “[The federal government] will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself.” Biden knew about the entire quote nine days before he repeated the lie on national television.
6. Trump slashed the Centers for Disease Control budget
During an interview on ABC’s “This Week” in early March, Joe Biden asserted. “They’ve cut the — the Centers for Disease Control. They’ve cut the funding for — they’ve tried to cut the funding for NIH, the National Institute of Health.” He recently doubled down on his argument on Twitter. It’s important to note, however, that the Obama administration tried to cut the CDC’s budget five out of its eight years in the White House. In reality, the CDC’s budget is 7% larger now than under President Obama’s final years in office.
History proves Joe Biden’s failed pandemic responses. While he likes to tout his leadership with handling the 2014 Ebola crisis for how he would lead the country through COVID-19, many former Obama officials have said Biden was not at the center of the Ebola response. Additionally, during the 2009 H1N1 crisis, administration officials repeatedly had to walk back false or misleading statements Biden gave about the virus.
There is no good reason for Joe Biden to consistently lie to the American public. Perhaps it’s more of his senior moments that prove he has no concept of reality. Or maybe it’s just a failed attempt to stay visible during this crisis.
No matter the rationale, Biden continues to remind voters every day that he is unfit to be president.
