Joe Biden (Video screenshot)
Former Vice President Joe Biden was among many Democratic leaders who urged Americans not to panic about the coronavirus in February and March, claiming President Trump was "hyping" concern.
Biden now is seizing on the controversy over Trump's remark to Bob Woodward on Feb. 7 that he "played down" the severity of the virus to avoid panic.
But on Feb. 28, Biden told supporters in Sumter, South Carolina, "it's not a time to panic."
"Barack [Obama] and I, when we were — as president and vice president – we took on the virus that was threatening all of Africa and, uh, the rest of the world," he said. "And we set up a mechanism that worked.
"But I want to take a moment to say it's not a time to panic about coronavirus, but coronavirus is a serious public health challenge."
Biden also, in a March 12 speech, urged Americans not to panic. It was one day after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic.
Dr. Anthony Fauci reacted to the Woodward interview Wednesday, telling Fox News that Trump said the same thing in public he was saying in private.
See Biden say "It's not a time to panic":
Trump established his coronavirus task force on Jan. 29 and two days later, declaring a "public health emergency," announced quarantine measures and restrictions on travel from China.
On Jan. 31, the Washington Post published an article accusing the president of hyping concern over the virus, noted the Conservative Treehouse blog.
Top Democrats and media figures immediately criticized the move, with Biden saying it was consistent with Trump's "record of hysteria, xenophobia and fear-mongering."
The New York Times quoted epidemiologist Dr. Michael Osterholm saying the China restriction was "more of an emotional or political reaction."
In March, Sen. Bernie Sanders, then a challenger to Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination, also slammed the China travel ban.
"Donald Trump does not have a natural ability to understand the coronavirus," Sanders said.
In late February, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was downplaying the coronavirus, encouraging people to come to a Chinatown event in San Francisco.
The Conservative Treehouse concluded: "So in January, February and March, 2020, the best political attack position was to say that President Trump was overreacting and hyping panic. Now in September 2020 the best political attack position is to say he down-played the danger."
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