Obama, Biden sit down to discuss Trump’s presidency, handling of COVID-19 in new video
Former President Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden sat down for a “socially distant” discussion in a new video, talking about Biden’s bid for president, as well as President Trump’s time in office and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The pair released a short teaser video, with the full footage coming out on Thursday.
“Can you imagine standing up when you were president and saying ‘it’s not my responsibility. I take no responsibility.’ Literally. Literally,” Biden said in a teaser video of the conversation.
“Those words didn’t come out of our mouths when we were in office,” Obama said.
“No. I don’t understand his inability to get a sense of what people are going through,” Biden said. “He can’t relate in any way.”
“Well, and one of the things I have always known about you Joe, it’s the reason I wanted you to be my vice president, and the reason why you were so effective ... it all starts with being able to relate,” Obama responded.
The full video will be available on both of their social media platforms on Thursday, ABC News reported.
Trump initially praised how China was handling the virus before the outbreak escalated in the U.S. He later blamed China, accusing the government of covering up the epidemic.
“The world is now suffering as a result of the malfeasance of the Chinese government,” Trump said in a speech in the Rose Garden in May, The New York Times reported. “Countless lives have been taken, and profound economic hardship has been inflicted all around the globe.”
There isn’t evidence that the World Health Organization or the Chinese government hid the extent of the outbreak, according to the publication.
Trump has been criticized for false statements about the U.S. death rate and how prepared states are to fight the epidemic, NBC News reported.
Trump said during a news conference on Tuesday that the virus will “just disappear” despite not presenting any evidence, according to NBC News. Trump has suggested the virus will disappear at least 20 times throughout the pandemic, including in February, when he predicted the coronavirus would vanish in a matter of weeks, according to The Washington Post.
“You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero,” Trump said.
The United States now has 3.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases, including more than 142,000 deaths as of July 22, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better. Something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is,” Trump said during his Tuesday press conference, according to NBC News.
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 9:20 AM with the headline "Obama, Biden sit down to discuss Trump’s presidency, handling of COVID-19 in new video."