‘People Are Learning To Die From It’: Biden, Trump Clash On Pandemic Timeline

Trump said the virus “will go away” and once again repeated his claim that the U.S. is “rounding the corner” on the pandemic – a statement he has made in some form on 35 of the last 53 days, including every day since Oct. 8.

Cases have increased sharply in recent days and weeks, with the U.S. reporting 62,751 new cases and 1,170 new deaths on Wednesday – both recent highs – for a total of 222,100 deaths from the pandemic.

Nonetheless, Trump predicted a vaccine would be available in short order – describing his timeline as more accurate than that of health officials who predict a vaccine won’t be widely available until well into 2022.

Biden shot back that Trump is “the same fellow that told you this is gonna end by Easter” and “who told you ‘don’t worry, this is gonna end by the summer,’” predicting a “dark winter” from the virus amid the case increase, a forecast Trump rejected.

“There’s not a serious scientist in the world who says it’s gonna be over soon,” Biden said, with Trump shooting back that he doesn’t say it will be over soon but that “we’re learning to live with it. We have no choice.”

Biden responded, “He says we’re learning to live with it. People are learning to die from it.”