Biden During Presidential Debate: “I’m Going to Shut Down the Virus, Not the Country”

During Thursday’s presidential debate, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he was open to implementing more economic shutdowns to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If you have a reproduction rate in a community that’s above a certain level, everybody says ‘slow up,’ more social distancing, do not open bars and do not open gymnasiums. Do not open until you get this under control,” Biden said. He also mentioned that schools and businesses need the capacity and support to safely reopen.

“I’m going to shut down the virus, not the country,” Biden added.

Trump, on the other hand, responded: “All [Biden] talks about is shutdowns, no we’re not going to shut down.”

The Daily Mail reported that, during the debate, Trump insisted the country must be opened. “We can’t all lock ourselves in the basement like Joe does,” he said.

Trump says 'we can't all lock ourselves in the basement like Joe does' after Biden criticized the President's COVID response #Debates2020 https://t.co/S8EEg42ThR

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) October 23, 2020

More than this, the former vice president criticized Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Anyone who is responsible for that many deaths should not remain president of the United States of America,” Biden said.

Trump claimed that the virus will go away. “It will go away and as I say, we are rounding the turn, we are rounding the corner, it’s going away,” he said.

Biden also argued that the COVID-19 situation was going to get worse.

“We are about to go into a dark winter. A dark winter. And he has no clear plan and there is no prospect that there’s going to be a vaccine available for a majority the American people before the middle of next year,” he said.

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