On Monday, Joe Biden said that President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis has stoked “hate” and “fear” and “nakedly xenophobia” against Asian-Americans.
Biden on Trump: ‘The pandemic has unleashed familiar forces of hate, fear, and xenophobia that he always flames’
The former vice president made these accusations during his virtual remarks to Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Victory Fund. Biden said President Trump moved too slowly to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, adding that his “denials, delays and distractions, many of which were nakedly xenophobic.”
And here I thought Biden would have said “sniffingly xenophobic”
“Biden: Trump's coronavirus response has been 'nakedly xenophobic'” https://t.co/NfAmI7aua3
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 18, 2020
“The pandemic has unleashed familiar forces of hate, fear, and xenophobia that he always flames… that have always existed in this society,” Biden said. “But this president brought it with him, has brought with it a new rash of racial messages, verbal and physical attacks and other acts of hate, some subtle, some overt, against the Asian American and Pacific Islanders.”
Biden Flip-Flops on Trump’s China Travel Ban
President Trump ordered a travel ban from China in January to help keep the virus from spreading in the U.S. Biden criticized the president’s action at the time, calling it “hysterical xenophobia” during a campaign speech in Iowa.
Breaking News! "Joe Biden: Trump’s Coronavirus Response ‘Nakedly Xenophobic’" REALLY now, to say this is just plain stupid. @Lrihendry @spytaeldr2 @SpyGateDown @SebGorka @KathyVotesRed This man is frightfully dumb. https://t.co/OmcBsMT46C
— Howard Adamsky (@HowardAdamsky) May 18, 2020
Yet by April, Team Biden had reversed course and now favors the travel ban.
“Joe Biden supports travel bans that are guided by medical experts, advocated by public health officials, and backed by a full strategy,” Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfeld said. “Science supported this ban, therefore he did, too.”
It's from China.
Biden accuses Trump of being 'nakedly xenophobic' in coronavirus response https://t.co/iSlwV1BlfX via @nypost
— Rep. Steven Smith (R-GA) ?? (@RepStevenSmith) May 19, 2020
Team Biden Claims to Have Never Been Against the Travel Ban
Bedingfeld claimed Biden’s “xenophobia” accusations were only centered on President Trump labeling the coronavirus the “Chinese virus” and not the travel ban.
Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is one of many scientific experts who have praised Trump’s implementation of travel bans on China, believing the move “absolutely” helped prevent spreading the disease further.