In his first prime-time speech to the nation on Thursday night, President Biden has littered criticism of Donald Trump for his way of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
“A year ago, we were hit by a virus that was received with silence and spread out of control, denials for days, weeks and then months – which led to more deaths, more infections, more stress and more loneliness,” said the president. “We have lost faith in whether our government and our democracy can provide really difficult things for the American people.”
Without ever naming the last government, Biden highlighted issues on which Trump was criticized, such as the importance of wearing a mask and “listening to science” to decide how best to reopen the economy.
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“A mask, the easiest thing to do to save lives, sometimes divides us, states pitting it against each other instead of working together,” he noted, agreeing with the recent decision by Republican-led states to suspend coronavirus restrictions. including masking mandates.
Biden encouraged Americans to listen to the advice issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to continue wearing masks “to save lives”.
Trump’s refusal to wear a mask until several months after the pandemic was a problem that Biden criticized during the presidential race.
Biden called Dr. Anthony Fauci “one of the most distinguished and trusted voices in the world”. The comment was in contrast to those made by Trump, who was at times a staunch critic of Fauci, the chief physician of his White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Biden suggested that the Americans were not receiving honesty from Trump, reflecting on a visit he made to a small business owner in Philadelphia last summer.
“Looking me straight in the eye, she said, ‘I just want the truth,'” he said, describing what she said she needed most to help her during the pandemic.
“My fellow citizens, you owe nothing less than the truth,” added the president.
Biden noted that when he took office, only 8% of people aged 65 and older had received their first injection, comparing this to the number of people who received the vaccine under his presidency.
Vaccines had only been available recently when Biden took office
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Biden highlighted how, since entering the White House, he has worked with Pfizer, Moderna and John & Johnson to “manufacture and buy hundreds of millions of doses” of vaccines – meaning that 65 percent of the elderly have received the vaccine against coronavirus in the past two months.
Trump was not immediately found by Fox News for comment.