Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Dec 24, 2021)
Coronavirus vaccine works but some people aren't taking it

[Comments and poll in response to H.R.6304, the "Stop Federal Vaccine Mandates for Employees Act," which says "No emergency standard may require any drug or vaccine or other biological product to be administered to any employee." See H.R. 6304 for Congressional response]

Xi Jinping on Coronavirus: (Health Care Nov 13, 2021)
FactCheck: Overcame impact of COVID-19; played down costs

OnTheIssues FactCheck: China suffered as the early epicenter of the COVID pandemic in early 2020, but then instituted lockdowns. The US experienced its first infections at that time. By the time of the Delta variant in autumn 2020, China had overcome most infections (with no functional vaccine) while the US experienced millions of active cases. By the time of the Omicron variant in late 2021, even with a functional vaccine, the US experienced even more millions of active cases, while China had few cases.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Nov 4, 2021)
Get more people vaccinated, or prolong coronavirus pandemic

Vaccination requirements are good for the economy. They not only increase vaccination rates but they help send people back to work--as many as 5 million American workers. They make our economy more resilient and keep our businesses open. [See H.R. 6304 for Congressional response]

Deb Haaland on Coronavirus: (Principles & Values Mar 13, 2021)
Scheduled to speak at Navajo Nation virtual day of prayer

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Families & Children Mar 6, 2021)
No mandatory paid family and sick leave in COVID relief

PROMISE BROKEN: (CNN March 6, 2021): Unlike Biden's initial proposal, neither bill would reinstate mandatory paid family and sick leave approved in a previous Covid relief package. But they continue to provide tax credits to employers who voluntarily choose to offer the benefit through October 1.

OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: Paid family and sick leave is mandated in 10 states: CA, CO, CT, DC, MA, NJ, NY, OR, RI, and WA.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Jan 20, 2021)
Mandate COVID masks in all federal buildings

PROMISE KEPT: (Executive Order on Mask-Wearing, 1/20/21): The heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) shall immediately take action, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to require compliance with CDC guidelines with respect to wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, & other public health measures by: on-duty or on-site Federal employees; on-site Federal contractors; and all persons in Federal buildings or on Federal lands.

OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: "Mask mandates" are a core political issue at the state level: whether to mandate masks for state employees (as Biden has done for federal employees), versus for the public at-large (which Biden has not done).

Pope Francis on Coronavirus: (Health Care Dec 25, 2020)
Coronavirus vaccine morally ok even if from fetal research

The Vatican earlier this month said the use of coronavirus vaccines is "morally acceptable," even if some vaccines are manufactured using "cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process."

Francis, who turned 84 earlier this month, urged that everyone who needs a vaccine have access to it. "I cannot place myself ahead of others, letting the law of the marketplace and patents take precedence over the law of love and the health of humanity," Francis said. "I ask everyone-- government leaders, businesses, international organizations--to foster cooperation and not competition, and to seek a solution for everyone: vaccines for all, especially for the most vulnerable and needy of all regions of the planet."

Pope Francis on Coronavirus: (Health Care Dec 25, 2020)
No vaccine nationalism: coronavirus vaccines for all

"I beg everyone, heads of state, companies and international organisations to promote cooperation and not competition, to find a solution for everyone--vaccines for all--especially for the most vulnerable and needy in all areas of the planet," he said.

Francis also appeared to criticise people who have refused to wear masks because it violates their freedom: "And neither can we allow the virus of radical individualism to triumph over us and make us indifferent to the suffering of other brothers and sisters," he said.

Xavier Becerra on Coronavirus: (Jobs Dec 14, 2020)
Sued Amazon to comply with COVID subpoenas at warehouses

Cedric Richmond on Coronavirus: (Government Reform Dec 13, 2020)
Let's be frank with American people about coronavirus

Marcia Fudge on Coronavirus: (Welfare & Poverty Dec 13, 2020)
We have to deal with lack of low, moderate income housing

Pope Francis on Coronavirus: (Health Care Dec 10, 2020)
COVID: Midnight Mass at 7:30 to comply with curfew

Rand Paul on Coronavirus: (Education Dec 1, 2020)
COVID: Opening schools doesn't lead to a surge

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
If we just all wore masks, we'd save 100,000 lives

BIDEN: 220,000 Americans dead. You hear nothing else I say tonight, hear this. The expectation is we'll have another 200,000 Americans dead between now & the end of the year. If we just wore these masks, we can save a 100,000 lives. And we're in a circumstance where the president has no comprehensive plan. What I would do is make sure we have everyone encouraged to wear a mask all the time. I would make sure we invest in rapid testing. I would make sure that we set up national standards as to how to open up schools and open up businesses so they can be safe and give them the wherewithal, the financial resources to be able to do that. Folks, I will take care of this. I will end this. I will make sure we have a plan.

Q: [to TRUMP]: You said a vaccine will be coming within weeks. Is that a guarantee?

TRUMP: No, it's not a guarantee, but it will be by the end of the year. I think it has a good chance.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
Use military to distribute 100 million vials of vaccine

BIDEN: If we just wore these masks, we can save a 100,000 lives. The president has no comprehensive plan. I will make sure we have a plan.

Q: [to TRUMP]: You said a vaccine will be coming within weeks. Is that a guarantee?

TRUMP: No, it's not a guarantee, but it will be by the end of the year.

Q: Your own officials say, "It could take well into 2021 at the earliest for enough Americans to get vaccinated." Is your timeline realistic?

TRUMP: No, I think my timeline is going to be more accurate. I don't know that they're counting on the military the way I do, but we have our generals lined up [for distribution] logistics. As soon as we have the vaccine and we expect to have a 100 million vials.

BIDEN: This is the same fellow who told you, "Don't worry, we're going to end this by the summer." We're about to go into a dark winter, and he has no clear plan.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
We reduced coronavirus from an expected 2.2 million deaths

TRUMP: 2.2 million people were expected to die. We closed up the greatest economy in the world in order to fight this horrible disease that came from China. The mortality rate is down 85%. There was a spike in Florida and it's now gone. There was a very big spike in Arizona. It's now gone. We have a vaccine that's coming. We have Operation Warp Speed, which is the military is going to distribute the vaccine. I had it and I got better.

BIDEN: He did virtually nothing. And then he gets out of the hospital and he talks about, "Oh, don't worry. It's all going to be over soon." Come on. There's not another serious scientist in the world who thinks it's going to be over soon.

TRUMP: I didn't say "over soon." I say we're learning to live with it. We have no choice. We can't lock ourselves up in a basement like Joe does. As the president couldn't do that and go away for a year and a half until it disappears. I can't do that.

Jay Inslee on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 22, 2020)
COVID: Lower infections with masks, distancing, not Trump

Culp argues that many of these restrictions, most notably a mask mandate, shouldn't be dictated by the governor. Wearing a mask, he says, should be a personal choice. "The problem is when we have one person sitting in the governor's office telling everyone what they are going to wear," Culp says.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 15, 2020)
People with masks can still catch coronavirus

Q: At the event [in Oct. 2020] before you tested positive, there was an indoor reception. People were not wearing masks. Shouldn't the White House know better than to hold an event like that?

TRUMP: Well, they do a lot of testing in the White House; they test everybody including me. As far as the mask is concerned, I'm okay with masks. I tell people, "wear a mask." But just the other day, they came out with a statement that 85% of the people that wear masks catch it.

Q: It didn't say that. I know that study.

TRUMP: That's what I heard. Hey, I'm President. I can't be in a basement. I have to be out.

Q: You can see people with a mask, though, right?

TRUMP: I can, but people with masks are catching it all the time. Look at the Governor of Virginia, he was known for a mask. If you look at Thom Tillis, a great guy, he always had a mask, and they caught it.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 15, 2020)
Trump left rules to states; I want national standards

BIDEN: At a time when the science was saying, and his key people, Dr. Fauci were saying, "You should be taking these precautions."

TRUMP: Dr. Fauci said, "Don't wear a mask," right? Then he changed his mind.

BIDEN: Look, you and I know, the words of a president matter. No matter whether they're good, bad, or indifferent, they matter. And when a president doesn't wear a mask or makes fun of folks like me, when I was wearing a mask for a long time, then people say, "Well, it mustn't be that important." There should be a national standard. Remember what the president said to the governors, "Well, they're on their own; it's not my responsibility. The governors can do what they need to do." It is a presidential responsibility to lead, and he didn't do that. He didn't talk about what needed to be done because he kept worrying, in my view, about the stock market. His barometer of success to the economy is the market.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 15, 2020)
Depending on vaccine, think about making it mandatory

BIDEN: It depends on the state of the nature of the vaccine when it comes out, and how it's being distributed. But I would think that we should be talking about, depending on the continuation of the spread of the virus, we should be thinking about making it mandatory.

Q [to TRUMP]: You have been having rallies despite being exposed?

TRUMP: As President, I have to be out there. I can't be in a basement. I want to see everybody. And I also say to people all the time, it's risky doing it. [But the White House tests everyone regularly].

BIDEN: Before I came up here, I took another test. I've been taking them every day. If I had not passed that test, I didn't want to come here and expose anybody. And I just think it's just decency, to be able to determine whether or not you're clear. I'm less concerned about me, than the people working in the Secret Service and the camera staff.

John Hickenlooper on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 10, 2020)
COVID: Need capacity test or vaccinate every American

John Hickenlooper: No. "Only way to regain our confidence and restart our economy is having the capacity to either test or vaccinate every American."

Corey Gardner: Yes. "HHS, through a number of its agencies, is actively leading critical prevention, containment, and supply-chain stability."

Mike Pence on Coronavirus: (Foreign Policy Oct 7, 2020)
Blame China for the coronavirus

HARRIS: The Trump administration's approach to China has resulted in the loss of American lives, American jobs. There is a weird obsession that President Trump has with getting rid of whatever accomplishment was achieved by President Obama and Vice President Biden. They created the office responsible for monitoring pandemics. They got rid of it. There was a team of disease experts that President Obama and Vice President Biden dispatched to China to monitor what might happen. They pulled them out.

Kamala Harris on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 7, 2020)
Trump knew the truth on coronavirus and covered it up

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 6, 2020)
COVID: Would mandate mask use in federal buildings

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Oct 5, 2020)
COVID: maskless people responsible for their actions

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Sep 29, 2020)
We didn't shut down economy; Trump shut down his economy

TRUMP: We would have lost far more people, far more people.

BIDEN: His own CDC Director says we could lose as many as another 200,000 people between now and the end of the year. And he said, if we just wear a mask, we can save half those numbers. Just a mask.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
Coronavirus was China's fault; I tried to close border

TRUMP: Without question, I would say, because things were going so well, the whole COVID, the China virus, as I call it, because it comes from China, I think it's a much more accurate term.

It's been very difficult; it's been so sad. We will get there, it's going to happen. But nobody's seen anything like probably since 1917.

Q: What did you learn from it?

TRUMP: I learned that life is very fragile, because [even with] strong people, all of a sudden they were dead. And it wasn't their fault. It was the fault of a country that could have stopped it. And I made a great deal with China. I feel so differently about that [China trade] deal. I don't view it the same way because of the horror of this disease, that could have been stopped at the border.

Q: Could you have done more to stop it?

TRUMP: I don't think so. I think what I did by closing up the country, I saved lives. I think we did a very good job.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID: If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases

TRUMP: We're very proud of the job we've done, and we've saved a lot of lives, a tremendous number of lives.

Q: We have 4% of the world's population, more than 20% of the cases, more than 20% of the deaths.

TRUMP: We have 20% of the cases because of the fact that we do much more testing. If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases. You would have very few cases.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
Biden promised a national mask mandate and didn't do it

TRUMP: They said at the Democrat convention they're going to do a national mandate. They never did it, because they've checked out and they didn't do it. And a good question is, you ask why Joe Biden--they said we're going to do a national mandate on masks. But he didn't do it. He never did it.

BIDEN (tweeting a response): "To be clear: I am not currently president."

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID-19 is going to disappear; I still say it

TRUMP: It is going to disappear. It's going to disappear, I still say it.

Q: But not if we don't take action, correct?

TRUMP: No, I still say it. It's going to disappear. I want to see people, and you want to see people. I want to see football games. I'm pushing very hard for Big Ten, I want to see Big Ten open. Let them play sports.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID: If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases

TRUMP: Frankly, we're very close to having the vaccine. If you want to know the truth, the previous administration would have taken perhaps years to have a vaccine because of the FDA and all the approvals, and we're within weeks of getting it. You know, could be three weeks, four weeks, but we think we have it. Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, we have great companies and they're very, very close. So I feel that we've done a tremendous job actually, and I don't think it's been recognized like it should.

Q: What the next step in fighting the virus?

TRUMP: We're very proud of the job we've done, and we've saved a lot of lives, a tremendous number of lives.

Q: We have 4% of the world's population, more than 20% of the cases, more than 20% of the deaths.

TRUMP: We have 20% of the cases because of the fact that we do much more testing. If we wouldn't do testing you wouldn't have cases. You would have very few cases.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Sep 15, 2020)
COVID: Why didn't Biden have national mask mandate?

TRUMP: They said at the Democrat convention they're going to do a national mandate. They never did it, because they've checked out and they didn't do it. And a good question is, you ask why Joe Biden--they said we're going to do a national mandate on masks. But he didn't do it. He never did it.

Q: You were saying it was going to disappear.

TRUMP: It is going to disappear. It's going to disappear, I still say it.

Q: But not if we don't take action, correct?

TRUMP: No, I still say it. It's going to disappear, George. I want to see people, and you want to see people. I want to see football games. I'm pushing very hard for Big Ten, I want to see Big Ten open. Let them play sports.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Sep 8, 2020)
COVID: Supported China travel ban and national emergency

On Jan. 31, President Trump had declared the coronavirus a public health emergency and announced travel restrictions for China. While the president and his team were starting preparations in the event of an outbreak in the US, many leading Democrats in Washington were too distracted by impeachment to care about the emerging threat.

Despite criticism from Democrats and the media, the president made the right call with the travel ban. He was also right to declare a national emergency and implement social distancing guidelines--not forever, but until we flattened the curve--which likely prevented the failure of hospitals and prevented many American deaths.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Aug 28, 2020)
We'll have a safe & effective coronavirus vaccine this year

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Aug 28, 2020)
FactCheck: Coronavirus testing has missed 90% of cases

FactCheck: Testing in the US has been less than successful and has never reached levels that satisfy public health experts. After getting off the ground slowly and late, CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield, admits the US has missed 90% of coronavirus cases with its testing efforts.

Trump said the US has "developed a wide array of effective treatments, including a powerful anti-body treatment known as convalescent plasma that will save thousands of lives"

FactCheck: The US has not yet developed a single new treatment for coronavirus. The only treatments that have been shown to work against coronavirus are old treatments - dexamethasone, remdesivir, blood thinners and convalescent plasma, a 100-year-old last-ditch treatment.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Jobs Aug 28, 2020)
FactCheck: 9 million jobs offset by 22.2 million job loss

FactCheck: The economy did add about 9.3 million jobs combined in May, June and July -- but that record increase immediately followed a much bigger record loss of about 22.2 million jobs in March and April. The economy is still down nearly 13 million jobs because of the coronavirus crisis. (Also, many of the jobs added were simply people returning to work after temporary layoffs.)

Mike Pence on Coronavirus: (Health Care Aug 26, 2020)
A nation of miracles: coronavirus vaccine by end of year

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Civil Rights Aug 23, 2020)
COVID: Mask mandate is about saving lives

BIDEN: I'm going to ask every governor to step up. This isn't about freedom; it's about freedom for your neighbors. It's about a patriotic responsibility to protect your neighbors. The only way you can do that is to be socially distanced and wearing a mask when you're in public, when you're outside. This is the first time I've ever heard people say that doing something patriotic you can save other people's lives, impacts on their freedom. Give me a break; this is about saving lives.

Q: Would you be prepared to shut this country down again?

BIDEN: I will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw of this administration's thinking. In order to keep the economy growing, and people employed, you have to fix the virus, you have to deal with the virus. I would shut it down, I would listen to the scientists.

Kamala Harris on Coronavirus: (Health Care Aug 23, 2020)
COVID: track racial disparities; get vaccines to neediest

BIDEN: I will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw of this administration's thinking to begin with. 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. I would shut it down, I would listen to the scientists.

HARRIS: There are different needs based on different communities and that's why we talk about the need to track actually racial disparities -- disparities based on region, geographic region and do that now. So that when we have a vaccine, those communities that are most in need, will get them. That policy and that approach will be guided by the public health experts, unlike what we have seen now which are the politics guiding a public health crisis.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Aug 23, 2020)
Coronavirus: Listen to science; step out of the way

BIDEN: I don't blame him for the COVID crisis. I blame him for walking away and not dealing with the solutions. Columbia University Medical School said if he had acted just one week earlier, he would have saved over 37,000 lives, 37,000 fewer people would have not passed away. Two weeks earlier over 50,000 people. This is about telling the American people the truth, letting the scientists speak, listening to the science and stepping out of the way.

Andrew Yang on Coronavirus: (Health Care Aug 21, 2020)
We must give country a chance to recover from coronavirus

"We despair that our government will ever rise to the challenges of our time. But we must give this country, our country, a chance to recover--and recovery is only possible with a change of leadership and new ideas," Yang continued.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Aug 21, 2020)
Trump's looking for coronavirus miracle; no miracle coming

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Aug 20, 2020)
I'll do what we should've done from beginning of coronavirus

If this president is reelected we know what will happen. The assault on the Affordable Care Act will continue until it's destroyed, taking insurance away from more than 20 million people--including more than 15 million people on Medicaid--and getting rid of the protections that President Obama and I passed for people who suffer from a preexisting condition.

Kamala Harris on Coronavirus: (Civil Rights Aug 19, 2020)
There is no vaccine for racism--we've got to do the work

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Government Reform Aug 13, 2020)
Against funding post office due to mail-in ballots

[In response], "Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the U.S. Postal Service is suspending operational changes, like removing mail processing equipment and collection boxes, until after the November election," the Wall Street Journal reports. From a statement: "To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded."

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Government Reform Aug 13, 2020)
Against funding post office due to mail-in ballots

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the Postal Service is suspending operational changes, like removing mail processing equipment and collection boxes, until after the November election. The agency won't change retail hours at post offices across the country or close any mail-sorting facilities. Overtime hours will continue to be approved as needed to process mail.

From a statement: "To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded." (Aug. 18, PoliticalWire)

Susan Rice on Coronavirus: (Homeland Security Jul 29, 2020)
Prepared "pandemic for dummies" playbook for successors

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Education Jul 19, 2020)
We're not going to fund schools if they don't open

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Principles & Values Jul 19, 2020)
I've been right probably more than anybody else

Q: But does that discredit you?

TRUMP: It's going to disappear and I'll be right. I don't think so.

Q: WALLACE: Right.

TRUMP: I don't think so. I don't think so. You know why? Because I've been right probably more than anybody else.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Jun 9, 2020)
Dismantled global health security system before coronavirus

Vladimir Putin on Coronavirus: (Budget & Economy May 12, 2020)
Ordered third stimulus package in wake of pandemic

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Free Trade May 6, 2020)
Virus proves emphasis on American production

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care May 5, 2020)
Administration didn't participate in global vaccine summit

Justin Amash on Coronavirus: (Budget & Economy May 1, 2020)
Relief payments should go to people, not corporations

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Apr 30, 2020)
Claims to have seen evidence COVID19 was from Chinese lab

Snopes 7/13/20: One of the conspiracy theories that have plagued attempts to keep people informed during the pandemic is the idea that the coronavirus was created in a laboratory. Scientists who have studied the virus agree that it evolved naturally and crossed into humans from an animal species, most likely a bat. How exactly do we know that this virus, SARS-CoV-2, has a zoonotic animal origin and not an artificial one? The answers lie in the genetic material and evolutionary history of the virus, and understanding the ecology of the bats in question.

Mike Bloomberg on Coronavirus: (Foreign Policy Apr 28, 2020)
US should lead during global emergency; Trump has not

Bloomberg Philanthropies has launched initiatives to help cities manage the pandemic and to support vulnerable low- and middle-income countries, through its partnership with the WHO.

Jay Inslee on Coronavirus: (Social Security Apr 27, 2020)
Suspends laws allowing garnishment of stimulus checks

Stacey Abrams on Coronavirus: (Health Care Apr 26, 2020)
Increase production for coronavirus testing; expand Medicaid

Mike Pence on Coronavirus: (Health Care Apr 19, 2020)
Coronavirus testing is state managed but federally supported

Tulsi Gabbard on Coronavirus: (Drugs Apr 18, 2020)
Relief for marijuana industry, including SBA assistance

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Apr 9, 2020)
COVID19: make sure there's free testing & free treatment

Elizabeth Warren on Coronavirus: (Government Reform Apr 8, 2020)
Vote by mail is an easy solution to pandemic restrictions

Bernie Sanders on Coronavirus: (Health Care Apr 8, 2020)
Push for "Medicare for All" in context of coronavirus

Sanders said that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic had hastened his decision to suspend his campaign, saying that continuing his presidential bid would only distract from efforts to combat the outbreak and damage it has done to the U.S. economy.

Sanders vowed to push forward with Medicare for All, saying the coronavirus is leading "millions" of laid off Americans to lose their health insurance. "In terms of health care, this current, horrific crisis that we are now in has exposed for all to see how absurd our current employer-based health insurance system is," he said. "We have always believed that health care must be considered as a human right, not an employee benefit, and we are right."

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Apr 2, 2020)
Ended pandemic early-warning program in Wuhan, China

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 31, 2020)
Coronavirus: Won't invoke oft-used Defense Production Act

For the coronavirus pandemic, Trump has elected to rely on the volunteerism of the private sector to obtain additional personal protective equipment, virus test kits and hospital equipment. He and his advisers have argued that using the act has been unnecessary, given the outpouring of support from large and small American companies that are retooling their factories to make masks, ventilators and gloves.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Technology Mar 31, 2020)
$2 trillion for infrastructure as next response to pandemic

'It should be VERY BIG & BOLD, Two Trillion Dollars, and be focused solely on jobs and rebuilding the once great infrastructure of our Country! Phase 4.'

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 27, 2020)
Coronavirus: Deal with health crisis before economic crisis

BIDEN: Medical experts indicate to me that it's more likely to be sometime into June, before we'd be in that position. But nobody knows for certain. What we do know is that it's a false choice to make, saying that either open the economy or everything goes to hell, or, in fact, you take care of the medical side. You cannot make this economy grow until you deal with the virus and that curve. You can't deal with the economic crisis until you deal with the health care crisis.

Q: When our savings account inevitably runs out due to him not being able to work right now, what is it that we sacrifice?

BIDEN: You should not have to sacrifice anything, not just because it's the fair thing for you be taken care of. You should not have to pay a penny for testing. You will be covered. Anything related to the cost of the coronavirus health care should be free, paid for out of the federal funds.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Homeland Security Mar 27, 2020)
Coronavirus: Use Defense Production Act for needs

We should be using the Defense Production Act to do whatever we need to do, whether it's the rapidity with which testing has to take place that you get a result, to actually getting the tests done, to investing in whether or not you have protective gear for our first responder

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Principles & Values Mar 27, 2020)
Coronavirus: Trump should do his job, not personalize it

BIDEN: No. But every single day, I speak to all five of my grandkids either on my phone, or I text with them. Two of them, Beau's children, live a mile as a crow flies from our home. We sit on our back porch and they sit out on the lawn with two chairs there, and we talk about being home from school, and who's driving whom crazy, and so on and so forth, but at least I get to see them.

Q: What should President Trump do differently regarding coronavirus?

When he talks to governors, he says, be careful when you talk to that governor, they're not very good, or calls another governor a snake. This is not personal. It has nothing to do with you, Donald Trump, nothing to do with you. Do your job. Stop personalizing everything. One of the governors I spoke to, when they called and asked for help in terms of masks and other things, the president allegedly told her that, no, you take care of yourself. That's not my responsibility.

Bernie Sanders on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 25, 2020)
Wrong to give company exclusive rights to drug treatment

"The Trump administration must rescind this corporate giveaway to Gilead and make any treatment and vaccine free for everybody," added the Vermont senator.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Welfare & Poverty Mar 24, 2020)
Suspends some SNAP limits; may still curtail eligibility

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Budget & Economy Mar 21, 2020)
AdWatch: market crash due to lack of coronavirus action

[One-minute TV ad, "Failed to Act," second half]
• Text: 3/3: 359 cases
• Trump: "The country's in great shape; the market's in great shape"
• News report: "The coronavirus has put the market into a freefall."
• Text: L.A. Times: Investors Panic Over Stock Market Free-Fall"; DJI -7.77%
• NBC News headline: "Dr. Fauci on Virus Testing: 'It Is a Failing'."
• Text: 3/13: 1,922 cases
• Trump: "No, I don't take responsibility at all."
• Text: 2/16: 4,019 cases
• Reporter: "On a scale of 1 to 10, how do you rate your response to this crisis?"
• Trump: "I'd rate it a 10; I think we've done a great job."
• Washington Post headline: Squandered Time: Trump Lost Control of Coronavirus
• Text: Spinner exceeds 6,000 then 7,000 cases
• CNN headline, 3/14: "NIH's Dr. Fauci: It's Going to Get Worse; Possible Millions Could Die"
• Voiceover: And now, here we are. Trump cannot be trusted, with our economy, our health, and our future
• Text: Paid for by AB PAC, www.AmericanBridgePAC.org

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 21, 2020)
AdWatch: Trump called coronavirus "their hoax" & "fake news"

Voiceover: The warnings were there

Headline: Before Virus Outbreak, a Cascade of Warnings Went Unheeded

Voice: Millions of Americans at risk

Text: 10 million Americans were expected to become ill

Voice: But Donald Trump failed to act

Video: Donald Trump smiling for interview

Text: Jan.22: 6 cases

Reporter: "Are you worried about a pandemic at this point?"

Trump: "No, not at all; we have it under control; it's gonna be just fine."

CNN headline 2/25: Top officials are warning that the spread of the coronavirus in the US appears "inevitable."

Text: Feb.26: 257 cases

Reporter: "Do you agree with that assessment?"

Trump: "Well I don't think it's 'inevitable.'"

Politico headline 2/28: On coronavirus fears: President Trump blaming the "fake news"

Trump: "This is their new hoax."

Text: Mar.3: 359 cases; more than 20 deaths

[Note: Trump sued over the use of the word "hoax," noting that it referred to the Democratic response, not the virus]

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 16, 2020)
Unprepared to engage in pandemic transition exercise

Bernie Sanders on Coronavirus: (Budget & Economy Mar 15, 2020)
Voted against bailout, because wealthiest didn't pay for it

Sanders: Yes.

Q: Many believe those spending bills were a crucial part of stabilizing the economy back then. Would you support bailouts for industries that are being crushed by the Coronavirus outbreak now?

Sanders: I voted against the bailout because I believed that the illegal behavior being done by the people on Wall Street should not be rewarded by a bailout. And today, by the way, those banks are more prosperous and own more assets, by and large, than they did back then. They're bigger now than they were then. I thought at the time that in the midst of massive income and wealth inequality, the people on top [should pay for the] bail out. Joe [Biden] voted for that. I voted against it. But to answer your question where we are right now, we need to stabilize the economy, but we can't repeat what we did in 2008. Our job right now is to tell every working person in this country, "you are not going to suffer."

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Education Mar 15, 2020)
Provide school lunch even if schools closed for pandemic

We have to have the best science in the world telling us what can stay open and what need be closed. Like I said earlier, the idea that we are closing schools, which I understand, but not being able to provide lunches for people who in fact need the school lunch program to get by.

I can understand the decision made to close places where a hundred or 50 people or more gather, but how do you deal with the things that necessarily have to be kept going and what's the way to do that? There should be a national standard for that. It should be coming out of the situation room right now.

Bernie Sanders on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 15, 2020)
Cover all costs for coronavirus testing and treatment

Bernie Sanders: Well, first thing we have got to do, is to shut this president up right now, because he is undermining the doctors and the scientists who are trying to help the American people. It is unacceptable for him to be blabbering with unfactual information which is confusing the general public. Second of all, make sure that every person in this country finally understands that when they get sick with the coronavirus that all payments will be made, that they don't have to worry about coming up with money for testing. They don't have to worry about coming up with money for treatment. We have to make sure that our hospitals have the ventilators that they need, have the IC units that they need. Right now, we have a lack of medical personnel. Bottom line from an economic point of view, say to the American people, if you lose your job, you will be made whole. You're not going to lose income.

Bernie Sanders on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 15, 2020)
We don't have a healthcare system; only thousands of plans

One of the reasons that we are unprepared and have been unprepared is we don't have a system. We got thousands of private insurance plans. That is not a system that is prepared to provide healthcare to all people. In a good year without the epidemic, we're losing up to 60,000 people who die every year because they don't get to a doctor on time. It's clearly this crisis is only making a bad situation worse.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 15, 2020)
Coronavirus national rally: care; testing; hospital capacity

1. We have to take care of those who are exposed, or are likely to be exposed to the virus, and that means we have to get the testing kits up & ready. I'd take advantage of the test kits the World Health Organization have available. I would make sure that every state had at least 10 places where they had drive-through testing arrangements.
2. We have to deal with the economic fallout quickly, and that means making sure that people who lose their job, can't pay their mortgage, are able to pay it.
3. I would also at this point deal with the need to begin to plan for the need for additional hospital beds. We have that capacity with FEMA: they can set up 100-bed, 500-bed hospitals and tents quickly.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 15, 2020)
Accept coronavirus test kits from World Health Organization

Biden: No. The World Health Organization offered the [coronavirus] testing kits that they have available and to give it to us now. We refused them. We did not want to buy them. We did not want to get them from them. We wanted to make sure we had our own. [Trump] said something like, "We have the best scientists in America," or something to that effect. We are not prepared for this. I agree with Bernie, we're in a situation where we have to now be providing for the hospitals that are going to be needed, needed now.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: This is a time for all of us working together. The World Health Organization is a very, very strong organization. It is sad that we have a President that has ignored the international community in so many ways, including in terms of international health crisis.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 15, 2020)
Refused coronavirus test kits from World Health Organization

Joe Biden: The World Health Organization [WHO] offered the testing kits that they have available, now. We refused them. We did not want to buy them. [Trump] said something like, "We have the best scientists in America," or something to that effect.

Bernie Sanders: This is a time for all of us working together. The World Health Organization is a very, very strong organization. It is sad that we have a President that has ignored the international community in so many ways, including in terms of international health crisis.

Fact-check posted Mar.6 by Politico.com: On Jan. 11, Chinese scientists posted the genome of the mysterious new virus, and within a week virologists in Berlin had produced the first diagnostic test for the disease. The WHO had shipped tests to nearly 60 countries. The US was not among them. Why the US declined to use the WHO test, even temporarily, remains a perplexing question.

Bill de Blasio on Coronavirus: (Homeland Security Mar 15, 2020)
Coronavirus: We need federalized dynamic as in wartime

Bernie Sanders on Coronavirus: (Homeland Security Mar 15, 2020)
Use National Guard for coronavirus; but focus on funding

A: I think we use all of the tools that make sense. If using the National Guard--that is something that has to be done. What I worry about is not only how we respond aggressively to the virus, but also how we respond aggressively to the economic fallout of a global recession. What we've got to say to every worker in America, you know what? Don't panic. You'll be able to pay your mortgage, because you're going to get a check.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Immigration Mar 15, 2020)
Xenophobia is a disease; invest in Latinos' future

BIDEN: Anyone who shows up to be tested for Coronavirus, or gets Coronavirus treated, would be held harmless. There are certain things you cannot deport an undocumented person for and that would be one of them. We want that. It's in the interests of everyone. And those folks who are the xenophobic folks out there, it's even in their interest that that [infected person] come forward, because it keeps the spread from moving more rapidly.

Q: What about closing the Mexican border during the pandemic?

BIDEN: Our future rests upon the Latino community being fully integrated. If we do not invest in their future, everything that the xenophobes are concerned about will in fact get worse, not better. We should be embracing, bringing them in, just like what happened with the Irish immigrants after the famine, just what happened with the Italians, et cetera. We've been through this before, xenophobia is a disease.

Susan Rice on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 13, 2020)
Coronavirus: Crisis should explode myth of "America First"

The United States can't defeat any pandemic alone. Even for the most nationalistic, this crisis should explode the myth of "America First." So long as the virus is prevalent anywhere, it is a threat everywhere. That is why we must cooperate with partners globally and invest in helping other countries to contain this and future pandemics. Viruses are equal-opportunity killers. They don't care whether you live in countries President Trump denigrates or the richest nations on earth.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Budget & Economy Mar 5, 2020)
Coronavirus: People spending money in US; I like that

TRUMP: I think people are viewing us as having done a very good job. Nobody is blaming us for the virus. People are now staying in the US, spending their money in the US, & I like that. You know, I've been after that for a long time. They've sort of been forced doing that. It's all going to work out. I just made a great China deal. China is paying us billions of dollars because of what I did to them with tariffs. I mean, to a point where my farmers are in love with me because I took some of that money and gave it to them.

Q: Do you care about the national debt?

TRUMP: I do. Very much. Now, the good thing about the debt is we're paying very little interest--almost nothing. In fact, I want to refinance the debt.

Q: So this would be a focus of a second term?

TRUMP: Oh, absolutely. Now, again, we were disturbed by what's going on with the virus, but that's going to be fine. But, you know, that was a disturbance.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 5, 2020)
Coronavirus: I don't blame anybody; we inherited decisions

And that's why we have only, right now, 11--it's a lot of people, but it's still 11 people--versus tremendous numbers of thousands of people that have died all over the world. We have 11. We have 149 cases, as of this moment. This morning, it was 129. So we were really given tremendous marks for having made the decision.

I don't blame anybody. I want to get everybody to understand: They made some decisions which were not good decisions. We inherited decisions that they made, and that's fine. We undid some of the regulations that were made that made it very difficult, but I'm not blaming anybody. We've done a great job.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 5, 2020)
Coronavirus: Nobody but me asked questions about China

TRUMP: As soon as I heard that China had a problem, I said, "What's going on with China? How many people are coming in?" Nobody but me asked that question. And you know that I closed the borders very early. We've been given A-pluses for that. You know, it saved a lot of lives.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Principles & Values Mar 5, 2020)
Coronavirus: I shake anybody's hand now; I'm proud of it

TRUMP: I love the people of this country. You can't be a politician and not shake hands. They want to shake your hand. They want to say hello. They want to hug you. They want to kiss you. I don't care. You have to do that. The bottom line is, I shake anybody's hand now. I'm proud of it. They're people that I love. They're people that I want to take care of. You're hearing a lot of stuff about "Try not to shake hands." It hasn't stopped me at all. It is a little bit of a problem, but I got over it.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 2, 2020)
Called Democratic response to coronavirus a "new hoax"

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Mar 1, 2020)
Coronavirus: Let the scientists speak; let them prepare us

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Foreign Policy Feb 29, 2020)
Coronavirus: We can help Iran, all they have to do is ask

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Immigration Feb 29, 2020)
Coronavirus: Border security is also health security

Mike Pence on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 27, 2020)
COVID: February 2020--We're ready for anything

Tom Steyer on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
Mandatory Coronavirus vaccines; and other immediate actions

STEYER: If it were necessary to take the vaccine to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus through the United States, yes, I would. But let me talk for a second about Coronavirus. Because what we're seeing is that this is a pandemic that hasn't been handled well. Back in 2014, there was an Ebola outbreak in Africa; President Obama did a fantastic job of controlling it. We're seeing the exact opposite from this president. We're seeing a president who just asked Congress for money to deal with it today. The World Health Organization declared an emergency in January. So what we're seeing here, the Coronavirus may or may not turn into a worldwide epidemic. But what we know for sure is that it's going to have a huge impact on the world economy as we try to deal with it.

Mike Bloomberg on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
CDC needs funding to fight coronavirus; Trump de-funded it

BLOOMBERG: No. Number one, he fired the pandemic team two years ago. Number two, he's been defunding Centers for Disease Control. So, we don't have the experts in place that we need. I hope he's right that the virus doesn't come here, that nobody gets sick. But the bottom line is, we are not ready for this kind of thing. And the president doesn't seem to believe in science. We are as exposed to this kind of thing as we have ever been, probably more so.

Q: What would you do if you were president right now?

BLOOMBERG: You have to marshal the teams. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a team in place. I can tell you what we did in City Hall back in New York. For Hurricane Sandy, for 9/11, for the swine flu--we were ready for it, in the sense that we had played out what would happen, how we would communicate with people, how we would distribute drugs, how we would include the hospitals & the nurses.

Pete Buttigieg on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
Deal with coronavirus with international integration

BUTTIGIEG: Well, first of all, we've got to meet 21st century security threats with a forward-looking security policy. This president's idea of how to keep us safe is a big wall. That is a 17th century security solution. I would be making sure that we have the coordination across the federal government for something that is a health issue, an economic issue, a security issue, and needs to have an integrated approach. But it's not enough to integrate within the United States. We've got to integrate internationally. The virus does not care what country it is in. And in order to deal with an issue like that, you need international partnerships and global relationships of the very kind that this president is tearing to shreds on an almost daily basis. This is why we need first and foremost, to restore the credibility of the US among the nations of the world.

Amy Klobuchar on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
Billions for CDC for coronavirus; billions for NIH too

KLOBUCHAR: Today, when the president addressed this, he [mentioned] the CDC; I think that's important, because I believe in science. But I also think, as we look at diseases and how they spread, we have to think ahead. And a lot of this, when you look at the budgets and how he has handled this, he's tried to cut the CDC in the past. He has tried to cut the organization that works with the rest of the world when it comes to pandemics. Democrats in the Senate have asked for something like $7 billion, $8 billion. And I think we have to be ready. And the number one thing is to listen to the doctors and call the doctors, but the other thing is to plan ahead. And how I would do this as your president is, one, make sure we have adequate medical help and research, that we have invested in education.

Elizabeth Warren on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
The most vulnerable people are susceptible to Coronavirus

WARREN: This really is serious. We know that, with any virus that develops, the most vulnerable will be our children, seniors, people with compromised immune systems. First we think about allocation--our overall approach. I'm going to be introducing a plan tomorrow to take every dime that the president is now spending on his racist wall at our southern border and divert it to work on the Coronavirus.

Q: V.P. Pence is in charge of the U.S. response?

WARREN: We need someone in the White House who is coordinating all of the work and all of the messaging and all of the information. Do keep in mind that this vice president has dealt with a public health emergency before, in Indiana [with HIV]. And what was his approach? It was to put politics over science and let a serious virus expand in his state and cost people lives. He is not the person who should be in charge.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
We invested in health agencies and kept Ebola out of the US

BIDEN: We've been through this once. We've been through this with the virus that occurred with Ebola in Africa. I was deeply involved on that. We were able to keep the disease overseas. The few that came to the United States, we were able to put together the following: We set up an office within the president's office to deal with infectious diseases, number one. Number two, we significantly increased the funding for NIH, National Institute of Health, as well as the CDC, to immediately begin to work on vaccines, which worked. We moved. Thirdly, what we did was we made sure that we were able to be honest with the American people, so that we had complete unity between the scientists and the president.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
Insist that China let our experts inspect for coronavirus

BIDEN: I think it's important that we understand that you have to have a president in charge. What I would do were I president now, I would not be taking China's word for it. I would insist that China allow our scientists in to make a hard determination of how it started, where it's from, how far along it is. Because that is not happening now. And we should be allowed to do that and they should want us to do that, because we have genuine experts who know how to confront these things. But we need to invest [in science agencies] immediately. We should have done it from the beginning, the moment the virus appeared. But we're getting late, but we've got good scientists. And I just hope the president gets on the same page as the scientists.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 26, 2020)
Screen people coming from coronavirus-infected areas

Bernie Sanders on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 25, 2020)
International cooperation on coronavirus, and full funding

What do we have to do? Whether or not the issue is climate change, which is clearly a global crisis requiring international cooperation, or infectious diseases like Coronavirus, requiring international cooperation, we have to work and expand the World Health Organization.

Obviously, we have to make sure the CDC, the NIH, our infectious departments, are fully funded. This is a global problem. We've got to work with countries all the over the world to solve it.

Joe Biden on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 25, 2020)
Work with China, in China, on coronavirus

BIDEN: What we did with Ebola--I was part of making sure that pandemic did not get to the United States, saved millions of lives. And what we did, we set up, I helped set up that office on pandemic diseases. We increased the budget of the CDC. We increased the NIH budget. And our president today--and he's wiped all that out. [With Ebola], we did it; we stopped it.

Q: So, more funding?

BIDEN: I would immediately restore the funding. [Trump] cut the funding for CDC. He tried to cut the funding for NIH. He cut the funding for the entire effort. And here's the deal. I would be on the phone with China and making it clear, we are going to need to be in your country; you have to be open; you have to be clear; we have to know what's going on; we have to be there with you, and insist on it and insist, insist, insist. I could get that done. No one up here has ever dealt internationally with any of these world leaders. I'm the only one that has.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 24, 2020)
The coronavirus is very much under control in the USA

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Government Reform Feb 14, 2020)
Against mail-in voting, early voting as terrible, dishonest

"I think if you vote, you should go. Even the concept of early voting is not the greatest, because a lot of things happen," he said. But he emphasized "there's a lot of dishonesty going on with mail-in voting, mail-in ballots. Thousands of votes are gathered and dumped in a location and all of a sudden you lose elections that you think you win," Trump said. "I'm not going to stand for it."

Bernie Sanders on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 6, 2020)
More money into research for pandemics like coronavirus

SANDERS: Well, for start, I would not do what Trump has done and cut funding for those federal agencies which deal with infectious crises. We would put more money into research to make sure that we are best prepared to what I fear may be happening more and more frequently. And we've got to go to the best experts that we can. But we need a global response to this global crisis.

Q: Is cutting off access with China, is that wise?

SANDERS: I don't think you want to cut off access. I think you want to put up protocols to do our best to make sure that we take a look at anybody who is coming into this country, I suspect. But I don't know you have to stop travel from China.

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Feb 4, 2020)
Eradicate AIDS epidemic by the end of this decade

Donald Trump on Coronavirus: (Health Care Dec 26, 2019)
2014: Criticized Ebola czar; 2019: put Pence in charge