MAINE, USA — Former Vice President and likely Democratic nominee for president Joe Biden released a statement exclusively to NEWS CENTER Maine ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to Maine on Friday.
"No amount of campaign-style excursions can change the fact that Donald Trump has been completely absent during this crisis," Biden said, condemning Trump's coronavirus response.
Trump will be touring the Puritan Medical Products facility in Guilford on Friday. The company is one of the largest suppliers of swabs for COVID-19 testing in the world.
Biden says Trump's 'incompetent' and 'bungled' response to the pandemic contributed to the deaths of 95 Mainers as well as the 168,000 unemployment claims in Maine.
The RNC Deputy Communications Director for Maine and New Hampshire issued a response to Biden's statement on Friday morning.
“Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, there has been no stronger leader for Maine than President Trump. From sending Maine healthcare providers more than $145 million in funding, to saving more than 370,000 Maine jobs through the Paycheck Protection Program, Mainers will remember that President Trump showed up for them when they go to the polls in November,” said Andrew Mahaleris, RNC Spokesperson.
Biden's full statement:
As President Trump continues to mismanage the greatest public health crisis in a generation alongside an economy comparable to the Great Depression, we can’t forget the heartbreaking truth: if he had listened to the nation’s top scientists and public health experts and taken action one week earlier, we could have avoided as many as 36,000 American deaths.
That’s not just a statistic.
That’s 36,000 families — including countless Mainers — who will never be whole again. 36,000 mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters whose grief can’t be conveyed in words.
36,000 Americans who might be alive today, had our President acted.
Mainers know the truth. They understand that President Trump was woefully late in acting on the coronavirus pandemic and fatally slow in providing PPE and tests to coronavirus hotspots. He’s now hoping we buy his revisionist history on his Administration’s incompetent and bungled response to this public health crisis. It’s a response that contributed to the deaths of 95 Mainers and has forced 168,000 Mainers to file for unemployment.
No amount of campaign-style excursions can change the fact that Donald Trump has been completely absent during this crisis.
It’s critical for the future of Mainers — and of all Americans — that we fill the vacuum of leadership at the White House.
As President, I will listen to Mainers and be a partner to Maine’s state and local leaders. I promise to do the hard work to restore the soul of our nation and bring our country back together.
NEWS CENTER Maine will be providing complete coverage of Trump's visit to Maine. Stay tuned for coverage.
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At NEWS CENTER Maine, we’re focusing our news coverage on the facts and not the fear around the illness. To see our full coverage, visit our coronavirus section, here: /coronavirus
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