Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is blasting President Donald Trump for not holding coronavirus relief negotiations at the White House.
During his first event with Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Biden took aim at Trump over the stalled negotiations on a new coronavirus relief measure.
“Donald Trump is on track to break another record,” Biden said, adding, “On track to leave office with the worst jobs record of any American president in modern history.”
“But instead of doing the hard work of meeting face-to-face with Congressional leaders, Democrats and Republicans in the White House like every other president has done in a crisis to get Americans relief they need and deserve, Donald Trump is on the golf course.”
“If I told you this three years ago, you’d look at me like I was being crazy,” he added.
Watch the video below:
"Instead of doing the hard work, and meeting face to face with congressional leaders…Donald Trump is on the golf course. If I told you this three years ago you'd look at me like I was being crazy. "
— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) August 12, 2020
Biden says of Trump's handling of pandemic relief negotiations pic.twitter.com/UI6YFag1ud
Biden’s comments come as negotiations over another coronavirus relief bill remain at a standstill, with both sides reluctant to make concessions.
Amid the negotiations, Trump has not been directly engaged in the discussions between members of the administration and Democratic lawmakers.
In a statement on Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, “We have again made clear to the Administration that we are willing to resume negotiations once they start to take this process seriously.”
“The lives and livelihoods of the American people as well as the life of our democracy are at stake,” she added.
Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he believes both sides can come to an agreement if Democrats are “reasonable,” as IJR reported.
During an appearance on CNBC, Mnuchin said, “We’ve given them flexibility, and we’ve offered more money for state and local. But we’re not going to give $1 trillion to state and local, that’s just not a reasonable approach.”
He noted that both Republicans and Democrats have agreed on the need to fund schools, state and local governments, vaccine development, and even providing food assistance. However, Mnuchin argued Democrats are pushing for too high of a price tag.
After weeks of failed negotiations, Trump moved unilaterally to take executive action aimed at providing some relief to Americans.
However, his action did not provide funding for a variety of other issues.
