Joe Biden blasted President Trump for expressing hope the country will return to normal by Easter.
“He should stop talking and start listening to the medical experts,” Biden told CNN Tuesday. “Listen to Dr. Fauci, he’s been there since Reagan,” the two-term vice president added of Anthony Fauci, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director and White House Coronavirus Task Force member.
Biden, the presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, clarified later in the interview, his second national TV appearance in a day, that Trump shouldn’t literally stay silent, but he needed to heed advice from both his public health and economic advisers. Trump, during a Fox News town hall on the pandemic Tuesday, said he “would love to have it opened by Easter.”
Biden urged the man he’s seeking to replace to be “reasonable,” insisting the novel respiratory illness was not his fault, but that his response had been “so slow.”
“We all want the economy opened as rapidly as possible. The way to do that is let’s take care of the medical side of this immediately,” he said.
[Read more: Coronavirus contrast: Trump White House bully pulpit vs. Biden basement soapbox]
Biden, however, was less cordial in response to Trump calling him “Sleepy Joe” and claiming Delaware’s 36-year senator didn’t know what “xenophobic” meant after Trump complained about being criticized for imposing COVID-19 virus travel bans on China.
“What a piece of work,” he said.
During the wide-ranging interview, part of Biden’s effort to earn media attention amid the outbreak, he also suggested he was against the Democratic National Convention, slated to begin July 13 through July 16, being canceled.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said.
