Leading from Behind: Biden Finally Says He Supports Trump's Decision to Cut Travel With China

Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at New Hope Baptist Church, Sunday, March 8, 2020, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Joe Biden has been struggling to find relevance as in the midst of the pandemic.

While President Donald Trump and his team are working non-stop dealing with the virus, Biden has been putting out interviews from his basement with favorable media and it hasn’t been going well.

As we reported on Friday, not only has that resulted in a string of gaffes, but he’s also gotten called out for a boatload of false statements. Just counting the false statements about the virus between March 13 and April 3, he earned 11 Pinocchios from fact-checkers in at least five separate occasions/incidents.

The things he’s offered as his “plans” have tended to be things that President Donald Trump has already done, such as suggesting that someone be in charge of a response (Vice President Pence).

He’s also said things that just don’t make any sense, such as claiming Trump is delaying checks so he can physically sign them.

But he’s also been blasted for just being flat out wrong, for example in suggesting that Trump cutting travel with China was “hysterical xenophobia” when Dr. Anthony Fauci said that helped save lives. He made this comment the day after Trump’s action.

This sense that somehow actually cutting off travel or events to prevent the spread was “racist.” It’s that thought that had Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mayor Bill de Blasio encouraging people to go to the Chinese New Year parades in February. It was also that attitude that hurt Italy as well in cutting off contact with folks coming from Wuhan early on, with the Mayor of Florence even encouraging people to “hug a Chinese person” to fight racism.

Biden got a lot of flak for that statement.

Now, guess what, suddenly after two months, Biden has seen the light. His team is now claiming he was supportive of the ban.

From CNN:

Joe Biden’s campaign said Friday the former vice president supports President Donald Trump’s January 31 decision to ban foreign nationals who had been in China within the previous 14 days from entering the United States.

“Joe Biden supports travel bans that are guided by medical experts, advocated by public health officials, and backed by a full strategy,” Kate Bedingfeld, Biden’s deputy campaign manager, told CNN. “Science supported this ban, therefore he did too.”

Bedingfeld tried to justify Biden’s prior remarks, claiming they were a “reference to xenophobia was about Trump’s long record of scapegoating others at a time when the virus was emerging from China.”

Uh, huh. Which is why he waited two months to ‘clarify’ with this ridiculous claim, right?

But at least now he’s come around to the the right response, albeit two months late.

As NRSC Senior Adviser Matter Whitlock observes, most of what Biden says is basically a copy of Trump, lagging behind.

Incredible — I've said it before — every policy Biden announces on Coronavirus is something the President has already been doing for weeks

✅Assemble a task force
✅Involve the private sector in PPE
✅Deputize the VP
✅Now: 2 month old China travel ban

Leadership with a lag. https://t.co/S4xC9yD6ya

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 3, 2020

It's genuinely baffling. The Biden campaign keeps putting Joe on TV to remind people he's alive, but every time he speaks he just seems to validate the steps the administration is already taking. https://t.co/kUHFEQ125w

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) April 3, 2020