Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has expressed openness to closing down the U.S. economy again amid the coronavirus pandemic, but President Donald Trump is making it clear he does not agree.
When asked about Biden’s previous remarks, Trump called the comments a “very dangerous statement.”
“Look, we did the right thing. We shut it down and now we’ve built it up and we’re setting records and job numbers,” the president said during a Fox News interview Monday night.
Trump continued, “So this guy comes in, I heard him the other day, ‘If they said,’ so that means that if some doctor said we have to shut it down, we’re going to shut it down?”
Biden previously told ABC News during a joint interview with his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) that if he were elected and there was a second COVID-19 wave, and scientists recommended a shutdown of the U.S. economy that he would.
“I would shut it down. I would listen to the scientists,” the former vice president said, adding that he would “be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives, because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus.”
Biden also said:
“In order to keep the country running and moving, and the economy growing, and people employed, you have to fix the virus. You have to deal with the virus.”
Watch the video below (starting at 2:00):
Trump also went on during the Fox News interview to discuss the possibility of another coronavirus stimulus package, to which he said, “We’d like to get it for the people.”
He then claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), however, “doesn’t want to give it because that would make the economy a little bit better and that would be a terrible thing.”
Pelosi has made it clear that she would not agree to any package less than $2.2 trillion, as IJR previously reported.
This comes amid stalled coronavirus relief conversations between congressional Democrats and the White House. However, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin revealed on Monday that Senate Republicans and the Trump administration have been talking about the relief measures, and Senate Republicans said on Tuesday that the “goal” is to vote on a “focused” bill next week.