Former Vice President Joe Biden participates in a Democratic presidential primary debate at CNN Studios in Washington on March 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Former Vice President Joe Biden, who leads the Democrat field of 2020 presidential hopefuls, will take part in a televised CNN town hall on the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an announcement by the network, the hour-long event will take place on Friday and will “feature questions submitted by individuals living in some of the communities hit hardest by the coronavirus.”
The Epoch Times refers to the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, as the CCP virus because the Chinese Communist Party’s coverup and mismanagement allowed the virus to spread throughout China before it was transmitted worldwide.
Biden will stream the event from his home studio in Delaware, while CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will moderate.
Former Vice President Joe Biden leaves the lectern after delivering remarks about the COVID-19 outbreak, in Wilmington, Delaware, on March 12, 2020. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The former vice president has been critical of the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic.
Ahead of the event, Biden wrote on Twitter on Friday: “It’s never a matter of if another pandemic will happen, it’s just a matter of when—and it’s the president’s job to ensure we’re ready.”
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has seen his approval ratings climb during the crisis.
A Gallup poll released earlier this week showed 60 percent of Americans approving the president’s handling of the outbreak.
Some Democrat strategists have expressed reservation whether Biden’s attacks on the president carry a political downside as the country struggles to cope with the virus outbreak.
“Biden has a thin line,” a campaign adviser to Biden told Politico. “There’s a danger now that attacking [Trump] can backfire on you if you get too far out there. I don’t think the public wants to hear criticism of Trump right now.”
Earlier, the presumed Democrat nominee streamed from his home studio on Monday, saying, “Donald Trump is not to blame for the coronavirus, but he does bear responsibility for our response. And I, along with every American, hope he steps up and starts to get this right.”
During the streamed event, CNN’s Jake Tapper reminded Biden to cough into the crook of his elbow, rather than into his hand, as Biden did on-air. Trump shared the clip on Twitter, deriding Biden for the error in hygiene.
A national Monmouth University poll published on Tuesday shows Biden holding a “negligible 3 point lead over Donald Trump in the race for president,” with Biden having the support of 48 percent of registered voters to Trump’s 45 percent.
The U.S. CCP virus death toll topped the 1,000 milestone in recent days, while the pandemic’s mounting economic burden was illustrated by government data on Thursday showing a record number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits and hospitals struggling to treat a surge of infected patients.
For most people, COVID-19 causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with pre-existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
The virus is thought to spread mainly from person-to-person, typically between people who are in close contact with one another and via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
