Trump says Joe Biden’s plan to beat coronavirus amounts to a ‘surrender’

President Donald Trump said it was Joe Biden who was surrendering to the coronavirus, claiming the Democrat is backing another ‘painful shutdown,’ which is not what the former vice president has proposed.  

‘The cost of the Biden shutdown would be measured in increased drug overdoses, depression, alcohol addiction, suicides, heart attacks, economic devastation and more,’ Trump said during his Republican National Convention speech Thursday night from the White House’s South Lawn. ‘Joe Biden’s plan is not a solution to the virus, but rather a surrender.’ 

Biden has rolled out a number of plans to deal with getting the pandemic under control, most notably he’d like to see Americans wear masks for three months. 

Other parts of his plan include fixing the testing and tracing problem, which has allowed COVID-19 to continue to spread around the U.S. unchecked and ensure medical professionals have enough personal protective equipment.  

In June, Biden slammed the president for being a ‘wartime president,’ as Trump once boasted, and then surrendering to the virus. 

Trump spent the bulk of his RNC address, where he officially accepted the Republican nomination for a second time, throwing insults at Biden – and seeing which ones would stick. 

On the coronavirus, which Trump’s handling of has seen his poll numbers suffer, the president claimed that Biden had called his decision to limit travel from China ‘hysterical and xenophobic,’ which FactCheck.org had previously rated ‘misleading.’  

‘If we had listened to Joe, hundreds of thousands more Americans would have died,’ Trump claimed. 

The president also suggested it was Biden who wasn’t listening to science. 

‘Instead of following the science, Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country,’ Trump claimed. ‘His shutdown would inflict unthinkable and lasting harm on our nation’s children, families and citizens of all backgrounds.’ 

The president made his remarks in front of a crowd of 1,500 people, who were not adhering to social distancing guidelines. 

Most in the crowd were not wearing masks. 

The White House’s Chief of Staff Mark Meadows indicated that some in the crowd would be tested prior to the event. 

‘There are a number of folks that’ll be tested. A number of folks that’ll be encouraged to wear masks. And to that extent, I think it’s a pretty safe environment given the circumstances,’ he said. 

The Trump campaign, in general, hasn’t been transparent about coronavirus protocols for speakers and attendees during the RNC.

The president boasted during his speech that his administration has taken a ‘different approach’ to dealing with the virus. 

‘To save as many lives as possible, we are focusing on the science, the facts and the data. To save as many lives as possible, we are focusing on the science, the facts and the data,’ he said. ‘Most importantly, we are marshalling America’s scientific genius to produce a vaccine in record time.’ 

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, the head of the coronavirus taskforce, have both suggested a coronavirus vaccine could be a reality by the end of 2020. 

‘We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year, and together we will crush the virus,’ Trump boasted Thursday night.