Biden: Pandemic has gotten bad enough that even Trump is wearing mask

Former Vice President Joe Biden in a speech on Tuesday blasted President Trump's "failed response" to the coronavirus pandemic, saying the crisis has gotten so dire that "even" the president is wearing a mask now.

Biden spoke about the pandemic in a speech about his new $2 trillion climate plan, which calls for zero-carbon electricity by 2035. At the top of the address, the presumptive Democratic nominee discussed the surge in COVID-19 cases in states like Florida and about Trump recently being seen wearing a mask in public for the first time during the crisis.

"It's gotten bad enough that even Donald Trump finally decided to wear a mask in public," Biden said. "I'm glad he made the shift. Mr. President, it's not enough."

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Biden went on to plea for "presidential leadership," arguing that Trump has been "pushing the false choice between protecting our health and protecting our economy" and calling on him to "listen to your public health experts" rather than "denigrating them." These comments from Biden come as the White House has recently sought to undermine Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and after Trump retweeted a claim that the CDC and doctors are "lying" about COVID-19.

In his speech, Biden also pledged that with his climate plan, he won't "just tinker around the edges" but will "make historic investments that will seize the opportunity and meet this moment in history." Brendan Morrow