/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f92373b5a5703dfabb645fb/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=5664&cropY1=381&cropY2=3569&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "‘People Are Learning To Die From It’: Biden, Trump Clash On Pandemic Timeline")
Topline
President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden expressed diametrically opposite views on the severity of the coronavirus pandemic during the final presidential debate on Thursday, with Trump once again casting it as a fading problem even as cases rise sharply.
Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the final … [+]
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
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.”
Big Number
55%. That’s the share of likely voters in a Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday who said they favor Biden on his approach to dealing with the coronavirus, compared to just 38% who said Trump. Trump has a 57% disapproval rating on the virus in the poll as Biden leads him by 10 points, 52% to 42%.
Crucial Quote
“I take full responsibility,” Trump said of the pandemic, before immediately adding “it’s not my fault it came here, it’s China’s fault.”
What To Watch For
While Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris are all scheduled to travel to swing states on Friday, Biden will hang back in his home state of Delaware, a safely Democratic state. While that may seem perplexing just 11 days out from the election, the topic of his scheduled remarks offers a clue into the thinking behind the move: Biden will discuss “his plans to beat COVID-19 and get our economy back on track.”
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