Joe Biden said Friday that President Trump’s response to the pandemic had resulted in a “K-shaped” recovery in which the rich are prospering but those in the middle and lower classes are suffering.
“The divergence in fortunes is unique to this recession and this administration,” the Democratic presidential candidate said during a campaign speech in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden said the “K-shaped” recovery could be seen in the August jobs report released Friday morning, which showed that 37 million people were teleworking in August. Those workers, Biden said, do not have to worry much about the virus and are financially well off. He said, however, that those who have in-person jobs on assembly lines, checkout counters, or meatpacking plants are forced to be worried about the virus and are facing great financial difficulties.
Trump has promised a “V-shaped” recovery, meaning one in which output and employment rebound quickly, such that a chart of economic figures would show a “V” shape.
Biden blamed Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic for the struggles people are facing. He said that the Trump administration has failed to control the virus from a health perspective and is now making matters worse now by cutting unemployment aid, pushing to reopen businesses and schools without protections, and authorizing flawed executive actions.
Friday’s jobs report showed a gain of 1.4 million jobs in August and an unemployment rate at 8.4%.
