Politics

Biden: ‘We Have To Take Care Of The Cure’ For COVID-19. ‘That Will Make The Problem Worse’

ABC News

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden delivered a confusing answer Tuesday when asked whether he was concerned that the coronavirus “cure” could be worse than the disease.

Journalist Sara Haines, referring to the increasing danger of a financial meltdown as a result of job losses, asked Biden on ABC’s “The View,” “Are you at all concerned, as [President Donald] Trump said, that we cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself?”

“We have to take care of the cure. That will make the problem worse no matter what. No matter what,” Biden responded. “We know what has to be done … We’ve got to flatten that curve and we’ve got to make sure that once, in fact, we have this under control, it doesn’t come back.” (RELATED: ‘Xenophobia’: Joe Biden Criticizes Trump For Calling Coronavirus A ‘Foreign Virus’)

After insisting that first responders required more “gear,” Biden said hospitals needed “extra beds” in major urban areas. The former vice president said that essential materials were also lacking in rural America as he pointed to an instructional aid. “I have a map here — I won’t show you, you can’t see it,” he said.

“We have to get help there,” Biden said. “We should be focusing on surging data, surging equipment, surging testing, surging all this information and all this capability around the country. That’s the first and foremost thing we should be doing instead of waiting around.” (RELATED: Karl Rove: ‘Unbelievable’ Joe Biden Is Fundraising Off Of Coronavrius)

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 11th Democratic candidates debate of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, held in CNN's Washington studios without an audience because of the global coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

In a fireside chat from his home in Delaware Biden made a number of verbal missteps as he attempted to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Biden has largely disappeared from the campaign trail over the past several days, his speeches to supporters have also become shorter.