Biden criticises Trump's response to outbreak

Washington, May 19 (AP) Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is slamming the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus outbreak, proclaiming that President Donald Trump, "had months, months to take action" and failed to do so before the US death toll began rising.

Biden addressed the AAPI Victory Fund's "Progressive Summit" virtually on Monday, speaking from his home in Delaware, as Canadian geese honked loudly and persistently in the background. The group aims to empower Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

The former vice president said of the virus, "The scale of the loss is staggering and it's infuriating."

"But more than that, it's heartbreaking to think how much fear, how much loss, how much agony could have been avoided if the president hadn't wasted so much time and taken responsibility," Biden said. "We got denials, delays, distraction - many of which were openly xenophobic."

Biden added, that the country, "Got bald-faced lies about testing capacity that, 'Anyone who wants a test can get a test.'" "It wasn't remotely true two months ago," he said "and it still isn't." (AP) RDKRDK