Biden takes shots at Trump’s competence

Democratic nominee hits president on pandemic, threats from Russia

WILMINGTON, DEL.— Joe Biden took aggressive aim Tuesday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s fitness for the Oval Office, suggesting he has abdicated his duty to protect U.S. troops facing Russian enemies abroad and U.S. citizens facing a pandemic and economic calamity at home.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told reporters Trump has “a lot to answer for” concerning news reports that he was advised as early as March 2019 of intelligence that suggested Russia was offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans.

And, in prepared remarks, Biden accused Trump of “waving the white flag” as coronavirus cases spike countrywide and the death toll surpasses125,000.

The one-two punch reflects the core of Biden’s candidacy, which he built on the argument that Trump is morally and temperamentally unfit to lead the nation. He sought again Tuesday to draw sharp contrasts with his own experience and style as a former vice-president and longtime senator.

Biden stopped short of saying Trump had violated his oath of office or should face any consequences from Congress based on any inaction on potential Russian bounties. But he called it “an absolute dereliction of duty if any of this is even remotely true,” and, in that case, he added, “the public should, unrelated to my running, conclude that this man is unfit to be president of the United States of America.”

The Associated Press has reported that at least one of Trump’s daily intelligence briefings included evidence of Russian bounties. Trump has insisted that he was never briefed on such details because they weren’t credible.

On the coronavirus, Biden lambasted Trump for not harnessing the power of the federal government.

“He called himself a wartime president. What happened? Now it’s almost July, and it seems like our wartime president has surrendered, waved the white flag and left the battlefield.”

Biden said he’d implement a national system of testing for the virus and tracing the exposure path.