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Biden rips Trump over Woodward revelations: "A life-and-death betrayal of the American people"

09 September 2020
Dan Ackermann

Joe Biden responded Wednesday to reporting in Bob Woodward's new book that shows President Trump intentionally downplayed the threat of the coronavirus in February and March, accusing him of a "life-and-death betrayal of the American people."

Why it matters: It was one of Biden's harshest attacks yet on Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, coming shortly after taped interviews with the president revealed him telling Woodward on March 19, "I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic."

What he's saying:

"He knew how deadly it was. It was much more deadly than the flu. He knew, and purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied to the threat it posed to the country for months. He had the information. He knew how dangerous it was.
Now while this deadly disease ripped through our nation, he failed to do his job on purpose. It was a life-and-death betrayal of the American people. Experts say that if he had acted just one week sooner, 36,000 people would have been saved. If he acted two weeks sooner, back in March, 54,000 lives would have been spared in March and April alone.
You know, his failure is not cost lives, it sent our economy in a tailspin. It cost millions more in American livelihoods. This is a recession created by Donald Trump's negligence, and he is unfit for this job as a consequence of it.
And how many families are missing loved ones at their dinner table tonight because of his failures. It's beyond despicable. It's a dereliction of duty. It's a disgrace."

Between the lines: An analysis from Columbia University in May, which was not peer-reviewed at the time, found that the U.S. could have prevented approximately 36,000 COVID-19 deaths if broad social distancing measures were enforced earlier in March.

  • The same study found that nearly 54,000 deaths could have been avoided if social distancing restrictions were enforced two weeks earlier.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.