SCRANTON, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Former Vice President Joe Biden, in a televised town hall-style forum in Scranton on Thursday night, was very critical of President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He also answered questions about the economy, health care, police reform and race relations.
Pennsylvania is a key battleground state, and Biden’s event came two days after the president had a televised town hall at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.
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With social distancing in mind, Biden’s event was a “drive-in” town hall that was broadcast on CNN and moderated by Anderson Cooper. Voters, in their cars, surrounded the stage. Some went up to a microphone to address the Democratic presidential nominee.
When asked by Cooper if he would intentionally withhold critical information to not cause panic, referring to Trump’s comments to journalist Bob Woodward that he downplayed the pandemic, Biden responded, “Not at all.”
Biden said the president, having had information about how easily the virus was spread and how deadly it could be, should have acted sooner.
“But he knew it. He knew it and did nothing. It’s close to criminal,” Biden said.
When asked about a vaccine, Biden said he would not trust the president.
"I trust Dr. Fauci. If Fauci says a vaccine is safe, I would take the vaccine. We should listen to the scientists, not to the president," Biden said.
In response to a voter who asked how he would get the message out to inform Americans to keep themselves safe, Biden spoke about masks.
“I cannot mandate people wearing masks,” Biden said. “I would make sure I would call every governor in the country into the White House and say, ‘You should be putting mandates out.’ And if they don’t, I’d call the mayors in their towns and their cities and say, ‘Put out mandates. You can save lives.’”
This was a different message from Biden who, on Wednesday, said he would be able to mandate masks.
“Our legal team thinks I can do that, based upon the degree to which there’s a crisis in those states, and how bad things are for the country,” he told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware.
At the town hall, Biden also expressed support for a public option on top of the Affordable Care Act. Fracking is a key topic in Pennsylvania, and Biden, who is pushing for a $2 trillion climate change plan if elected, said Thursday night that he would not end fracking.
Many opinion polls show Trump ahead of Biden on the subject of handling the economy. Thursday night, Biden tried to frame the differences between the two as “a campaign between Scranton and Park Avenue.“ Biden was born in the northeastern Pennsylvania town.
“The way we were raised up here in this area — awful lot of hard-working people busting their neck. All they ask for is a shot. Just a shot. All Trump can see from Park Avenue is Wall Street.”
On police reform, Biden praised the vast majority of police as “decent, honorable people.”
“The only people who don’t like bad cops more than we don’t like them, are police officers. And so, what we have to do is we have to have a much more transparent means by which we provide accountability within police departments.”
When asked if he benefitted from white privilege, Biden said he did. “Sure, I’ve benefitted, just because I don’t have to go through what my Black brothers and sisters have had to go through.”
Trump and his campaign have been trying to tie his rival to the recent unrest and incidents of violence around the country, arguing there would be more lawlessness if Biden were elected.
“He talks about ‘In Joe Biden’s America.’ I gotta remind him, he may be really losing it, he’s president. I’m not the president. This is Donald Trump’s America. Do you feel safer in Donald Trump’s America?”
The first presidential debate is on Tuesday, Sept. 29 in Cleveland.