On the same day his campaign sent an email about holding the president "accountable for his failures in handling this pandemic," presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden claimed not to have criticized President Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus.
"I've not been criticizing the president, but I've been pointing out where there's disagreement as to how to proceed," Biden said on ABC's The View. "The coronavirus is not his fault, but the lack of speed and alacrity with which to respond to it has to move much faster."
In addition to his campaign's email on Tuesday, Biden has made numerous other critical remarks about Trump's handling of the crisis.
On Jan. 31, the same day Trump announced travel restrictions on China to combat the outbreak, Biden told an Iowa audience that "this is no time for Donald Trump's record of hysteria and xenophobia—hysterical xenophobia and fearmongering."
"This virus laid bare the severe shortcomings of the current administration," Biden said in an address on March 12. "Public fears are being compounded by a pervasive lack of trust in this president, fueled by an adversarial relationship with the truth."
He also called Trump xenophobic for labeling the virus "Chinese" and blasted the government's slow speed on testing for the virus as a "failure of leadership, planning, and execution."
In his primary debate with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on March 15, Biden falsely claimed the Trump administration had refused a World Health Organization offer for coronavirus testing kits, when no such offer had been made.