Biden Erupts on Trump Over Covid Admission to Woodward: ‘Beyond Despicable, It’s a Dereliction of Duty’

President Donald Trump admitted to Bob Woodward an in interview early on in the coronavirus crisis that he downplayed it and acknowledged that it was more deadly in the flu, something at odds with public comments of his in the following weeks.

At a campaign event in Michigan Wednesday, Joe Biden took a moment to address the revelations in Woodward’s book.

“He knew how deadly it was. It was much more deadly than the flu. He knew and purposely played it down,” Biden said. “Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied about the threat it posed to the country for months. He had the information. He knew how dangerous it was. And while this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed do his job on purpose! It was a life and death betrayal on the American people.”

He said that based on what experts have said, thousands of lives could have been saved if the president had acted sooner.

Biden continued:

“His failure has not only cost lives, it sent our economy in a tailspin. It cost millions more in American livelihoods. This is a recession created by Donald Trump’s negligence, and he’s unfit for this job as a consequence of it. How many schools aren’t open right now? How many kids are starting a new school year the same way they ended the last one, at home? How many parents feel abandoned and overwhelmed? How many frontline workers are exhausted and pushed to their limits? And how many families are missing loved ones at their dinner table tonight because of his failures? It’s beyond despicable. It’s a dereliction of duty, it’s a disgrace.”

You can watch above, via CNN.