Over 100 thousand Americans are dead and over 40 million are unemployed in the face of the virus that's upended daily life in the United States.
President Donald Trump continues to blame China, where the virus originated, for the amount of cases in the United States.
This is despite the fact that Trump repeatedly dismissed the threat posed by the virus, praised China's transparency on the matter, pushed against widespread testing measures in order to keep the number of diagnosed cases low, and repeatedly ignored warnings of the virus in his briefings. Even now, he discourages the recommendations of his own health experts, such as wearing masks.
The existence of the virus is not Trump's fault, but the failure to react to it—and to prepare for it—is.
Now, a tweet from Trump's presumptive Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, is highlighting the difference between the two.
In a tweet from October 25, 2019—about two months before the world's first diagnosed case of the virus—Biden warned that the United States wasn't prepared for a global pandemic.
The same day, Trump was tweeting to Apple CEO Tim Cook about the shortcomings of the swipe feature on iPhones.
Check it out.
Two tweets from the same day in October. https://t.co/rsSslLCsTW— Joe Biden (@Joe Biden) 1590676320.0
Biden's tweet, featuring an article from the Washington Post, warns:
"We are not prepared for a pandemic. Trump has rolled back progress President Obama and I made to strengthen global health security. We need leadership that builds public trust, focuses on real threats, and mobilizes the world to stop outbreaks before they reach our shores."
Meanwhile, Trump's tweet gripes:
"To Tim: The Button on the IPhone was FAR better than the Swipe!"
Biden's deference to science and warnings that we weren't prepared couldn't have presented a starker contrast.
@JoeBiden ✍🏾 You can compare what #JoeBiden did versus Donald Trump EVERY SINGLE DAY. ✍🏾 Joe did more substantive t… https://t.co/SPHIg8VkkI— 💥𝐹𝓇𝑒𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝒟𝑜𝓊𝑔𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓈💥 (@💥𝐹𝓇𝑒𝒹𝑒𝓇𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝒟𝑜𝓊𝑔𝓁𝒶𝓈𝓈💥) 1590676550.0
@JoeBiden This says it all. A leader who is ready to do things the right way. And a 5 year old #moron who hasn’t le… https://t.co/V6B00TYz4S— Ralph Yaniz (@Ralph Yaniz) 1590676441.0
@JoeBiden Weird, in October 2019, Biden tweeted about a pandemic and it didn’t even come to the US until 2020. It… https://t.co/KfmF7YjeKi— Ryan Cameron (@Ryan Cameron) 1590676564.0
@JoeBiden So much for the no one saw this coming argument. Joe saw this threat coming.— Charles K (@Charles K) 1590676638.0
Trump's pandemic response continues to fail.
100,000 are dead from coronavirus, 40 million apply for unemployment benefits, 20% of children are hungry, millions… https://t.co/BE3x7Uyolo— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1590682602.0
@realDonaldTrump 100,000 DEAD AMERICANS Blood is on your hands. https://t.co/iVAEvhc6ao— Bishop Talbert Swan (@Bishop Talbert Swan) 1590682902.0
Here’s proof that trump is breathtakingly stupid, he’s made wearing a mask during a pandemic part of a culture war.— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@Molly Jong-Fast🏡) 1590586307.0
Stop the stupidity. Are you registered to vote?