Trump says coronavirus is 'God testing me' to build economy again

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

President Trump on Monday blasted his likely presidential challenger former Vice President Joe Biden during a speech in Manakato, Minnesota, saying he'd "abolish the American way of life" en route to turning the U.S. into a "very boring socialist country that will go to hell." He then had a go at Biden's running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), for co-sponsoring a "socialist takeover of health care."

The president also joked the coronavirus pandemic was "God testing me" to rebuild the U.S. economy a second time. He zeroed in on New Zealand, a country which, to Trump's apparent chagrin, has won praise for containing the virus. Recently, though, New Zealand has had a flare-up, and Trump made sure the crowd in Minnesota knew about it. While New Zealanders are certainly concerned about the virus resurfacing after several months, just nine new infections were reported Monday, far lower than the average daily number of cases in the United States, which Trump maintains has handled the pandemic with aplomb.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.