It is no surprise that there were fireworks during the COVID-19 segment of the presidential debate on Tuesday. The pre-announced topic was anticipated as being one of the unfriendliest for President Trump, whose handling of the outbreak has widely been considered a failure, and former Vice President Joe Biden didn't hold back. "Between 750 and 1,000 people are dying a day," he said. "When [Trump] was presented with that number, he said 'it is what it is.' Well it is what it is, because you are who you are."
Biden hammered Trump throughout the segment, painting him as ineffective and lacking the urgency to tackle the crisis. "This is the same man who told you that by Easter this would be gone away," Biden reminded viewers. "By the warm weather it'd be gone, miraculously, like a miracle. And by the way, maybe you can inject some bleach in your arm and that would take care of it."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
FDA approves painkiller said to thwart addictionSpeed Read Suzetrigine, being sold as Journavx, is the first new pharmaceutical pain treatment approved by the FDA in 20 years
-
Study finds possible alternative abortion pillSpeed Read An emergency contraception (morning-after) pill called Ella could be an alternative to mifepristone for abortions
-
California declares bird flu emergencySpeed Read The emergency came hours after the nation's first person with severe bird flu infection was hospitalized
-
Bird flu one mutuation from human threat, study findsSpeed Read A Scripps Research Institute study found one genetic tweak of the virus could enable its spread among people
-
Dark chocolate tied to lower diabetes riskSpeed Read The findings were based on the diets of about 192,000 US adults over 34 years
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 raceSpeed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burgerSpeed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
-
Texas dairy worker gets bird flu from infected cowSpeed Read The virus has been spreading among cattle in Texas, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico
