‘Will CNN call him xenophobic now?’ Biden says Covid-19 is like ‘attack from abroad’ after Trump pilloried for ‘foreign virus’
Joe Biden has raised quite a few eyebrows after he compared the coronavirus outbreak in the US with “being attacked from abroad,” prompting many to wonder if he is to be held to the same standard by liberal media as Donald Trump.
The first one-on-one debate between former VP Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders was largely overshadowed by the coronavirus crisis raging in the US, with both Democratic candidates unloading heavily on US President Donald Trump for his handling of the pandemic within the country’s shores.
While the two have clashed over Sander’s Medicare for All proposal, Biden took a conciliatory tone at the Vermont independent, saying that he “agrees with Bernie” in principle on how to deal with the health scare.
“I agree with Bernie. We’re in a situation where we have to now be providing for the hospitals that are going to be needed. We need it now.”
Biden, however, then made a comparison that struck many as odd, essentially likening the outbreak of the Covid-19, that originated in China’s Wuhan in December, to a hostile invasion.
“This is like we’re being attacked from abroad. This is like a war.”
Netizens were quick to pounce on Biden, who previously took aim at Trump for describing the disease as a “foreign virus.”
Biden: “this is a crisis. It’s like we are being attacked from abroad.”Really? Is that the only way to describe the pandemic? Seems the issue is not the virus, it’s preparedness & ability to respond and manage. #DemDebate
— Azad Essa (@azadessa) March 16, 2020
“we’re at war with a virus…this is like being attacked from abroad” biden, no
— Alex Press (@alexnpress) March 16, 2020
“Labeling Covid-19 a ‘foreign virus’ does not displace accountability for the misjudgments that have been taken, thus far, by the Trump administration,” Biden said as recently as on Thursday.
Trump has taken a lot of flak from the liberal media over his remark, including from CNN, that hosted the Biden-Sanders face-off on Sunday.
Some suggested that double standards were apparently at play at CNN, with its hosts not in a rush to challenge Biden on his words.
Biden: “We are being attacked from abroad.”Trump: “The foreign virus.”There goes that Trump criticism.
— Tripp André (@arandomgamer02) March 16, 2020
Biden says this virus is “like we are being attacked from abroad.” I do wonder if those who took issue with the President saying Coronavirus came from abroad will cry foul about this.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) March 16, 2020
“Will CNN call him xenophobic like they did Trump when he called it a “foreign virus”?” a commenter asked.
The number of coronavirus cases in the US has passed over 3,300 with at least 63 deaths. With the number of those infected keeping on soaring, Democrats have been accusing Trump of mishandling the crisis, seeking to weaponize the national emergency.
Shortly after the Sanders-Biden showdown kicked off, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) unveiled new guidlines, urging against holding mass events with 50 people or more. Parades, sporting events, festivals, concerts, conferences and even weddings fall under the ban, that will be in effect for the next 8 weeks at least.
The set-up for the debate itself looked rather eerily – the venue was moved from Arizona to CNN’s Washington headquarters and there was no live audience to witness the back-and-forth between the two. Sanders and Biden greeted each other with elbow bumps and proceeded to their podiums, set 6 feet apart in line with the “social distancing” guidlines.
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