Politics

Biden Says Trump Needs ‘Someone Else In Charge With Him’ To Manage Coronavirus Crisis

[CNN Screenshot]

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Monday that President Donald Trump needs to appoint “someone else” to manage the coronavirus with him.

Trump appointed Vice President Mike Pence as the head of the coronavirus task force in February.

“The president said he’s a wartime president,” Biden told CNN. “This is a war against this virus. He should act like a wartime president. He should have someone else in charge with him, making sure all these things get implemented. It is not like we didn’t know this was coming.” (RELATED: Chuck Todd Asks If Trump Has ‘Blood’ On His Hands Over Coronavirus Response — Biden Says ‘That’s A Little Too Harsh’)

The former vice president insisted that Trump continues to deliver information that is “simply not accurate,” while insisting the president has “been very slow to act.”

“President Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus,” Biden said when asked if Trump was responsible for the coronavirus spreading faster than it needed to in the U.S. and caused “the deaths of Americans.”

“But he is responsible for using all of the power at his disposal to deal with this virus by changing the peak, getting down the curve, so we move in a direction instead of going up like this, we’re going like this,” he continued, as he moved his hand in a downward motion.

Biden accused the president of focusing on “the political consequences” of his decisions. He said Trump should “listen more to the scientists,” instead of being distressed that the “the governors don’t appreciate enough what he’s doing.” (RELATED: Karl Rove: ‘Unbelievable’ Joe Biden Is Fundraising Off Of Coronavirus)

President Donald Trump arrives as National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci waits for the beginning of a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic in the press briefing room of the White House on March 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote Friday on the $2 trillion stimulus package to combat the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump arrives as National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci waits for the beginning of a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic in the press briefing room of the White House on March 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor on the coronavirus task force, has credited Trump with shutting down travel from China to the U.S. relatively early on in the COVID-19 crisis, saying the president helped contain the outbreak.

Trump signed a $2.2 trillion phase 3 coronavirus stimulus package Friday.