Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says a top White House aid admitted that the Trump administration has given up on combatting the coronavirus.
On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was criticized by Biden after he said the country would not “get control” of the coronavirus. Biden accused Meadows of “stunningly [admitting] this morning that the administration has given up on even trying to control this pandemic.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Meadows was asked about Biden’s comments. He said, “The only person waving a white flag along with his white mask is Joe Biden.”
“When we look at this, we’re going to defeat the virus. We’re not going to control it. We will try to contain it as best we can,” he added
Meadows went on to say he was arguing that he was talking about making sure that there are therapeutics and a vaccine developed for the coronavirus. He added that he believes a vaccine is “just a few weeks away.”
“At the same time, a national lockdown strategy, or a national quarantine strategy that is proposed by the left, is not effective, is not what ultimately [will] contain or control this virus. So any suggestion that we’re waving the white flag is certainly not in keeping with this president,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Mark Meadows: "The only person waving a white flag along with his white mask is Joe Biden." pic.twitter.com/6KWbBKLcab
— The Hill (@thehill) October 26, 2020
During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Meadows claimed, “We’re not going to control the pandemic, we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics, and other mitigations.”
When asked why the U.S. would not gain control of the virus, he said, “Because it is a contagious virus.”
However, he maintained that the government was working to contain it.
Biden seized on Meadows’ comments and charged, “This wasn’t a slip by Meadows. It was a candid acknowledgment of what President Trump’s strategy has clearly been from the beginning of this crisis: to wave the white flag of defeat and hope that by ignoring it, the virus would simply go away. It hasn’t, and it won’t.”
