Biden blasts Trump as U.S. COVID-19 cases mount and Pence staff endures outbreak

[webfact]

Biden blasts Trump as U.S. COVID-19 cases mount and Pence staff endures outbreak

By Andrea Shalal and Ernest Scheyder

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, stands with his wife, Karen, after casting his ballot for the upcoming election at a polling station in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. October 23, 2020. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

 

MANCHESTER, N.H./WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence forged ahead with campaigning on Sunday despite a COVID-19 outbreak among his aides and President Donald Trump claimed progress as the United States set records for daily infections, prompting Democratic challenger Joe Biden to accuse Trump of surrendering to the pandemic.

 

With nine days to go before the Nov. 3 election in which Biden is facing the Republican president, the White House cited Pence's status as an "essential worker" as justification for his campaign travel despite exposure to his chief of staff, Marc Short, who tested positive on Saturday.

 

Multiple senior aides to Pence also tested positive for COVID-19, the White House chief of staff said.

 

The United States in the past two days has registered its highest number of new COVID-19 cases - about 84,000 on Friday and about 79,900 on Saturday. The pandemic, which has killed about 225,000 people in the United States and left millions of Americans jobless, remains front and center in the presidential race.

 

While Pence was set to campaign in North Carolina later on Sunday, Trump addressed a rally at an airport in New Hampshire.

 

Even as the novel coronavirus surged in many parts of the United States, Trump told the rally: "There's no nation in the world that's recovered like we've recovered."

 

"We are coming around, we're rounding the turn, we have the vaccines, we have everything. Even without the vaccines, we're rounding the turn," Trump told cheering supporters, many not wearing protective masks or observing social-distancing recommendations. "It's going to be over. And you know who got it? I did. Can you believe it?"

 

While numerous COVID-19 vaccines are being developed, none has been approved for use in the United States.

 

"We're not going to control the pandemic. We are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation areas," White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN's "State of the Union" program.

 

In a statement released by his campaign, Biden seized on those comments, saying Meadows "stunningly admitted this morning that the administration has given up on even trying to control this pandemic, that they've given up on their basic duty to protect the American people."

 

"This wasn't a slip by Meadows, it was a candid acknowledgement of what President Trump's strategy has clearly been from the beginning of this crisis: to wave the white flag of defeat and hope that by ignoring it, the virus would simply go away. It hasn't, and it won't," Biden added.

 

The outbreak among Pence's aides marked the latest White House COVID-19 cases, which have included Trump, first lady Melania Trump, their son, Barron, and numerous aides and associates. The president was hospitalized for three nights this month after contracting COVID-19.

 

The new infections offered a reminder of the way Trump and his allies have downplayed the advice of public health experts to wear masks and observe social-distancing guidelines to combat COVID-19 transmission.

 

TRUMP HEADS TO MAINE

Trump also is due to campaign in Maine on Sunday. Biden had no campaign events scheduled for Sunday. Biden leads in national opinion polls, but contests in battleground states that could decide the outcome appear closer. About 58.8 million voters already have cast ballots.

 

Meadows told reporters that White House doctors cleared Pence to travel after Short tested positive. Pence is scheduled to address rallies in Kinston, North Carolina, later on Sunday and in Hibbing, Minnesota, on Monday. Meadows said Pence would continue to campaign and speak at rallies.

 

A spokesman for the vice president said late on Saturday that Pence and his wife had tested negative.

 

Asked why Pence was not following U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to quarantine for 14 days after such exposure, Meadows on Sunday cited the vice president's status as "essential personnel."

 

CDC guidance states: "To ensure continuity of operations of essential functions, CDC advises that critical infrastructure workers may be permitted to continue work following potential exposure to COVID-19, provided they remain asymptomatic and additional precautions are implemented to protect them and the community." The CDC guidance does not mention political campaigning.

 

Explaining why the Trump campaign is not requiring people attending rallies to wear masks, Meadows said the campaign offered masks to attendees, but "we live in a free society."

 

Biden's running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, took four days off the campaign trail this month after an aide tested positive for COVID-19.

Speaking in Detroit, Harris criticized Pence for continuing to travel, saying: "He should be following the guidelines."

 

Trump has mocked Biden for wearing a protective mask.

 

Infectious diseases expert Dr. Sandra Nelson of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital said it appeared that Pence would be at high risk for becoming infected and transmitting infection.

 

"With multiple members of his office testing positive, this would be considered a work-based cluster. Anytime there is a cluster like this, I would advise that the entire office transition to remote work for 14 days," Nelson said.

 

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Ernest Scheyder; Additional reporting by Lisa Shumaker, Susan Heavey, Joe Shaw, Steve Holland, John Whitesides and Trevor Hunnicutt; Writing by Will Dunham; Editing by Scott Malone, Daniel Wallis and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-26

 

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[Lacessit]

Trump is trying to skate past the coronavirus issue with three lies.

Lie #1. America is "rounding the turn". The number of active cases are rising, nearly 2.9 million.

Lie #2. A vaccine will be ready within weeks. Even if it was announced today, mass distribution could not occur until April 2021.

Lie #3. He is now immune after therapy. Cases of reinfection are showing much more serious health effects than the initial infection.

America is on the brink of a third wave as it heads into winter. November 3 will tell the tale of whether Americans will continue to swallow Trump's lies.

[Tug]

It’s been obvious to me for months that trump surrendered to it there are plenty of folks in government who are capable of organizing and carrying out a winning strategy to get this under control the problem is trump he won’t get out of the way of competent people it’s heart breaking 

[robblok]

5 minutes ago, Tug said:

It’s been obvious to me for months that trump surrendered to it there are plenty of folks in government who are capable of organizing and carrying out a winning strategy to get this under control the problem is trump he won’t get out of the way of competent people it’s heart breaking 

Yes his incompetence is damaging the country a lot. The guy just thinks he knows best while ignoring experts he does not like. I would hate to work for a guy like that. 

[Emdog]

"Trump told the rally: "There's no nation in the world that's recovered like we've recovered." "

Some countries needed to adjust, not recover.....

South Korea, Taiwan and Japan come to mind.

If US had dealt with outbreak like Japan did, there would be 3000 deaths instead of 200+ thousand. And Japan is more crowded and has larger percentage of seniors.

[mtls2005]

At least the vp and "mother" (his name for his wife, not mine) are wearing masks.

 

The vp's office has more infections than some countries.

 

cos meadows admitted that he tried to keep this vp cluster secret.

 

Attributed to another VP (Democrat) from Indiana Thomas Marshall...

 

 "Once there were two brothers: one ran away to sea, the other was elected vice president. Nothing was ever heard from either of them again."

 

#danquayle

[darksidedog]

A troll post has been removed along with replies.

[Lacessit]

58 minutes ago, Tug said:

It’s been obvious to me for months that trump surrendered to it there are plenty of folks in government who are capable of organizing and carrying out a winning strategy to get this under control the problem is trump he won’t get out of the way of competent people it’s heart breaking 

To a sociopath, the pain of other people is irrelevant. Trump is acting on his own behalf, no-one else's.

Admitting he was wrong would be admitting he's a loser in his eyes. He can't abide that.

[Srikcir]

'multiple members of his office testing positive'

Now up to five members. How many more in the next 7 days?

Trump infected with covid-19: predictable.

Good likelihood Pence will test positive within the next 7 days.

 

[Proboscis]

I was once paired with another guy in an amateur tennis doubles competition. He was hopeless and I had not been playing for very long. At one stage we were so far behind and the other side were getting braver by the moment when he came out with the following line - "Hey, we got them on the run." I was thinking about how to commit murder with a tennis racket.

 

This is what it is like with Trump and the virus - just as it is taking off exponentially, the country is crushing it, apparently.

 

Don't get me wrong. Biden will make a mediocre president. But remember when we had one of those. Bush senior, perhaps ? Oh what would we do to have one of those again!

[Tug]

32 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

'multiple members of his office testing positive'

Now up to five members. How many more in the next 7 days?

Trump infected with covid-19: predictable.

Good likelihood Pence will test positive within the next 7 days.

 

Meanwhile they hold their super spreader events (rallies) infecting more everyday it just beggers belief 

[Thomas J]

29 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

so, yeah, with his regime's bungled response, trump IS responsible for nearly 250,000 dead americans

ChouDoufu

So it is Trumps fault.  Tell me exactly how Trump was "suppose" to stop the virus from entering the USA. 

While you are at it, tell me why the leaders of these countries are also not being condemned.  Or are you like most liberals and Everything that is bad is Trumps fault.  

OH PS.  The US has 50 states that are run by their own governors and millions of cities controlled by its mayors.  THEY NOT TRUMP set the guidelines for coronavirus response. Cuomo in New York MANDATED that Covid patients be put back into nursing homes.  New York and New Jersey have the most covid deaths but again, I guess you think that Trump was responsible for putting those nursing home patients at risk and causing their deaths. 




 

[ChouDoufu]

10 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

ChouDoufu

So it is Trumps fault.  Tell me exactly how Trump was "suppose" to stop the virus from entering the USA. 

While you are at it, tell me why the leaders of these countries are also not being condemned.  Or are you like most liberals and Everything that is bad is Trumps fault.  

OH PS.  The US has 50 states that are run by their own governors and millions of cities controlled by its mayors.  THEY NOT TRUMP set the guidelines for coronavirus response. Cuomo in New York MANDATED that Covid patients be put back into nursing homes.  New York and New Jersey have the most covid deaths but again, I guess you think that Trump was responsible for putting those nursing home patients at risk and causing their deaths. 




 

 

there's no way to stop a virus from entering a country.  you may slow it down, but it will get in eventually.  once it's in, you have to deal with it.  the trump regime has failed spectacularly.

 

the virus was in china first.  they dealt with it.  of course, their president allowed himself to be seen in public wearing a mask, so there is that.

 

so blame the governors, blame the mayors, blame the local dogcatchers.....anyone but trump.  it's not like he disregarded the advice of........oh, wait, he did.  the buck stops there.

 

i'm not condemning those other leaders, cause i'm not a citizen of those countries.  my family and friends are not at risk in those countries.  i don't have a say, through my vote, in the policies of those countries.  this thread is not about those countries.  

[Thomas J]

18 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

so blame the governors, blame the mayors, blame the local dogcatchers.....anyone but trump.  it's not like he disregarded the advice of........oh, wait, he did.  the buck stops there

ChouDoufu,

 

Again you blame Trump that means you believe he did something wrong.  JUST EXACTLY WHAT WAS HE SUPPOSE TO DO TO PREVENT THE CORONAVIRUS.? i WILL WAIT FOR YOUR RESPONSE. 

I guess you don't blame the people who put those at risk in nursing homes exposing them to the virus.  I suppose you don't blame those who left their homes to go out without a mask.  I suppose you don't blame those who rioted in droves in the streets exposing themselves to the virus.  I suppose you don't blame those who hosted parties at their homes.  

Here is what the EXPERTS predicted If we do everything right. 


 

[xylophone]

34 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

So it is Trumps fault.  Tell me exactly how Trump was "suppose" to stop the virus from entering the USA. 

Well you might want to read the article I'm attaching to his post, as that throws light on the subject.

 

However, easy to answer your questions, and trump was not supposed to stop the virus from entering the USA, because that would be extremely difficult to do, however he could have mitigated the circumstances to which it was introduced, i.e. travel..........and although he spoke to the American people regarding the "five" people who had been identified as carriers and that it was now stopped, and he stopped flights direct from China, around 140,000 people travelled from China and Europe into the US because of incompetence.

 

He also discouraged the wearing of masks, dismissed virus as nothing more than a flu and said it would go away by April, all detracting from the seriousness of the virus and not encouraging people to take measures against it (distancing, wearing a mask, hand washing, wiping surfaces etc). Also he took no notice of his medical advisors! Idiot.

 

Made very clear in this article......

 

Covid-19 coronavirus: America's 'colossal failure of leadership 

 

 One role of journalism is to establish accountability, and that's particularly important before an election. Trump says he deserves an A-plus for his "phenomenal job" handling the coronavirus, but the judgment of history is likely to be far harsher. 

"I see it as a colossal failure of leadership," said Larry Brilliant, a veteran epidemiologist who helped eliminate smallpox in the 1970s. "Of the more than 200,000 people who have died as of today, I don't think that 50,000 would have died if it hadn't been for the incompetence." 

 

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/covid-19-coronavirus-americas-colossal-failure-of-leadership/BLHERSYGXUCU4LQKL3VXOSM5ZM/ 

 

PS. I wonder why the Covid 19 virus is called the Wuhan flu/virus, when HIV was never called the "Congo virus", or the Ebola virus was never called the, "Congo or Sudan virus", or indeed the Spanish flu which quite probably originated in army barracks in Kansas, "the US flu"???? Looking for a scapegoat perhaps: a typical trump ploy.
 

[stevenl]

51 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

ChouDoufu

So it is Trumps fault.  Tell me exactly how Trump was "suppose" to stop the virus from entering the USA. 

 

If you would have read the post you replied to in full, you would have seen quite a few courses of action.

[ChouDoufu]

6 minutes ago, stevenl said:

If you would have read the post you replied to in full, you would have seen quite a few courses of action.

i wasn't clear?

 

yes, it's trump's fault.

it's NOT possible to prevent the virus getting in.

not condemning whatabout nations i don't have a steak in.

we had and have no coherent national policy.

[Thomas J]

3 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

 

yes, it's trump's fault.

it's NOT possible to prevent the virus getting in.

not condemning whatabout nations i don't have a steak in.

we had and have no coherent national policy.

ChouDoufu

You are like every liberal I ever met.  Conrfont them to answer and they can't  Again, you are so  smart  tell me exactly how Trump could have prevented the virus.  Again, if Trump is at fault, then so are the leaders of every nation on earth to their response since there are deaths all over the world.  Sweden did absolutely nothing and their death rate is lower than the USA.  So that pretty well refutes you logic that DOING SOMETHING had any effect at all. 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

[stevenl]

9 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

i wasn't clear?

 

yes, it's trump's fault.

it's NOT possible to prevent the virus getting in.

not condemning whatabout nations i don't have a steak in.

we had and have no coherent national policy.

Apparently not, see the post following yours.

[mtls2005]

3 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Now up to five members. How many more in the next 7 days?

Six Pence, none the sicker.

 

 

[Thomas J]

 

StevenL

 

I am asking you specifically to elaborate what Trump should have done to prevent or mitigate the coronavirus Gosh notice the FACTS that the states with high covid death rates WERE ALL DEMOCRAT.  Tell me you tell me specifically what Trump could have done to order New York governor CUOMO and New Jersy governor Murphy to change THEIR policies to prevent the Covid deaths in their states.  Oh but I forget you blame Trump but not Cuomo and Murphy even though it was the latter that controlled Covid measures for their respective states. 



 

 

[ChouDoufu]

3 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

ChouDoufu

You are like every liberal I ever met.  Conrfont them to answer and they can't  Again, you are so  smart  tell me exactly how Trump could have prevented the virus.  Again, if Trump is at fault, then so are the leaders of every nation on earth to their response since there are deaths all over the world.  Sweden did absolutely nothing and their death rate is lower than the USA.  So that pretty well refutes you logic that DOING SOMETHING had any effect at all. 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

 

liberal?  applying labels?  how does that assist in the discussion?

 

if it helps, i'm not registered with any party.  would be considered independent or libertarian, i suppose.  usually vote republican for fiscal reasons.  i'm actually more right-wing, constitutionalist.  if not for the tinfoil-underpants nutjobbery, i'd be more inclined to side with the minimal government militia types.  so, no, definitely NOT liberal in the fox news sense of the word.

 

you keep harping on trump "preventing the virus."   as i stated, that would be impossible.  it will get in, it did get in.  it's how you deal with it that matters, or in our case, how we declined to deal with it.  if sweden has been sucessful, then yippee for them.  america is not sweden.  i am not swedish.  i am american and we failed.

 

 

 

 

[xylophone]

2 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

I am asking you specifically to elaborate what Trump should have done to prevent or mitigate the coronavirus

Read my post of some 20 minutes ago...........

[Thomas J]

StevenL  Choudoufu

Governors Not Trump set the rules for their respective states. 

https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1564

[Thomas J]

3 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

you keep harping on trump "preventing the virus."   as i stated, that would be impossible.  it will get in, it did get in.  it's how you deal with it that matters, or in our case, how we declined to deal with it.  if sweden has been sucessful, then yippee for them.  america is not sweden.  i am not swedish.  i am american and we failed.

choudoufu

Again you BLAME TRUMP  I ask you specifically what could he do to prevent it.  Also if Sweden did nothing and had a lower death rate if effectively refutes your contention that doing anything has a positive impact. Or perhaps you can't grasp that. 

Also please explain how Trump could over rule the governors.  The governors not the federal government control each states.  Perhaps you should blame them. 

[stevenl]

32 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

 

StevenL

 

I am asking you specifically to elaborate what Trump should have done to prevent or mitigate the coronavirus Gosh notice the FACTS that the states with high covid death rates WERE ALL DEMOCRAT.  Tell me you tell me specifically what Trump could have done to order New York governor CUOMO and New Jersy governor Murphy to change THEIR policies to prevent the Covid deaths in their states.  Oh but I forget you blame Trump but not Cuomo and Murphy even though it was the latter that controlled Covid measures for their respective states. 



 

 

I will happily answer all your questions that haven't been answered extensively before.

Also, please show me where I think Cuomo and Murphy acted well.

[Sujo]

1 hour ago, Thomas J said:

StevenL  Choudoufu

Governors Not Trump set the rules for their respective states. 

https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1564

Nice you disagree with trump who blames obama for sars.

[placeholder]

3 hours ago, Thomas J said:

OH PS.  The US has 50 states that are run by their own governors and millions of cities controlled by its mayors.  THEY NOT TRUMP set the guidelines for coronavirus response. Cuomo in New York MANDATED that Covid patients be put back into nursing homes.  New York and New Jersey have the most covid deaths but again, I guess you think that Trump was responsible for putting those nursing home patients at risk and causing their deaths. 




 

The reason that it's being dealt with on a state by state basis is because Trump refused to federalize the problem. Because, you know, the Covid-19 virus is very scrupulous about observing state borders.  That's why the way one state deals with the virus has absolutely no effect on neighboring states.

[placeholder]

1 hour ago, Thomas J said:

 

StevenL

 

I am asking you specifically to elaborate what Trump should have done to prevent or mitigate the coronavirus Gosh notice the FACTS that the states with high covid death rates WERE ALL DEMOCRAT.  Tell me you tell me specifically what Trump could have done to order New York governor CUOMO and New Jersy governor Murphy to change THEIR policies to prevent the Covid deaths in their states.  Oh but I forget you blame Trump but not Cuomo and Murphy even though it was the latter that controlled Covid measures for their respective states. 



 

 

Even your own graph refutes the claim that all the states with high death rates were Democratic. Apart from that the Northeast is the most densely populated part of the country. It happens to vote Democratic. Correlation is not the same thing as causation. New York has the misfortune to host 2 major airports with a 3rd not far away in Newark. Another big source of contagion.

Also, you seem to be assuming that the pandemic is finished. Guess what, it's now raging in the midwest and mountain states. So that graph is incomplete

As for what Trump could have done. For starters he could have evoked emergency powers granted him under the Defense Authorization Act. He should have immediately required US industry to begin to manufacture the various PPE items required to protect health care workers and the public.

He should have launched a massive program to do contact tracing. 

He should have shut down air travel completely both international and domestic.

He could have followed the recommendations of scientists and urged Americans to wear masks. Instead he encouraged them not to. He actually held huge rallies indoors where most of his supporters went maskless.

He supported the premature lifting of restrictions. Ask Florida, Texas, and Arizona how that turned out.

He put Pence in charge of the coronavirus fighting effort. In February Mike Pence gave a speech at CPAC in which he said that the coronavirus has cost only 15 American lives and did not pose much of a threat. In May, Pence wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in which he claimed that there would be no second wave. How did that work out?

A pandemic is not a thing that can be successfully fought on a state-by-state basis. Trump refused to take responsibility. Refused to make it a federal matter.

[johnnybangkok]

2 hours ago, Thomas J said:

ChouDoufu

You are like every liberal I ever met.  Conrfont them to answer and they can't  Again, you are so  smart  tell me exactly how Trump could have prevented the virus.  Again, if Trump is at fault, then so are the leaders of every nation on earth to their response since there are deaths all over the world.  Sweden did absolutely nothing and their death rate is lower than the USA.  So that pretty well refutes you logic that DOING SOMETHING had any effect at all. 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

The WHO announced C19 to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (it’s highest warning) on the 30th January 2020. Apart from banning flights from China on the same day, Trump did very little other than tell Fox News host Sean Hannity, “We pretty much shut it down coming in from China’ followed by on the 14th February “We have a very small number of people in the country, right now, with it. It’s like around 12. Many of them are getting better. Some are fully recovered already. So we’re in very good shape.” Trump like the vast majority of countries procrastinated, ignored, minimised and generally flew in the face of WHO advice and did very little to get ahead of the threat (see also UK, Italy, Spain, France etc.etc) so when it inevitably hit them, it hit them hard. In fact it wasn’t until mid-March (a full 6 weeks after the WHO announcement) with numbers going through the roof that Trump declared a national emergency and recommended people work from home. By then of course it was far, far too late.

 

What Trump and other countries should have done is emulate successful countries like South Korea and Taiwan, who have managed to mitigate the deadlier effects of the virus whilst still keeping much of their economy open. Behind their success has been the most expansive and well-organized testing program in the world, combined with extensive efforts to isolate infected people and trace and quarantine their contacts.     https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/03/coronavirus-cases-have-dropped-sharply-south-korea-whats-secret-its-success

 

In America (the worlds richest country), testing could have been ramped up, with those testing positive forced to self-isolate (or admitted to hospital if particularly bad). To this end, large amounts of government funds should have been deployed to testing, either from existing 'emergency funds' or separate funds. For example if the US put $100 billion of the $2 ++ trillion stimulus to testing, it would be able to test enough people to get on top of the outbreak. Testing machines (from the likes of Cepheid and Roche), can handle 4,200 tests a day; build five thousand of those machines, and you can test 20 million people a day. With those numbers you could have tested the whole of the US in a month.

 

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/04/08/998785/stop-covid-or-save-the-economy-we-can-do-both.

 

He could have also have coordinated buying PPE for individual states which would have prevented the massive price gouging you saw, and of course done simple things like wear a mask, social distance and do what the scientists recommended. This could have all been done at a federal level, so stop blaming the individual states for trying to do what Trump refused to do and for which he is wholly and individually responsible.