Instead of “waiting for a miracle” like Donald Trump, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden has vowed to bring Covid-19 under control – starting with a national mandate to wear masks as a “patriotic duty.”
Biden gave his official acceptance speech on the last night of the Democratic National Convention on Thursday, at one point taking shots at US President Donald Trump’s coronavirus response. But moments after warning that “no miracle is coming,” Biden said his administration would provide just that, promising to roll out a “national strategy” to bring the pandemic under control on “day one.”
Joe Biden promises rapid COVID-19 tests and a national mandate to wear a mask as a ‘patriotic duty’ in his #DemConvention speech. More coverage: https://t.co/VczLCX35A9pic.twitter.com/35vIVvObhA
“We’ll develop and deploy rapid tests with results available immediately. We’ll make the medical supplies and protective equipment our country needs,” he said, adding that he would give schools the “resources they need” to reopen safely and allow health experts to tell the “honest, unvarnished truth” about the virus.
We’ll have a national mandate to wear a mask – not as a burden, but to protect each other. It’s a patriotic duty.
Biden’s optimism was not received well by some netizens, however, with many honing in on the proposed mask mandate, decrying it as draconian and a major imposition on civil liberties.
“Tell me, how would Biden enforce that mandatory mask law in a free country? Fines? Jail? We have the flu virus every year, what if we have this Covid virus every year? I guess masks are forever,” one user wrote.
Biden, that’s it. If you insist on wanting to lock America down and force us all to wear masks for a virus that I have less than a 0.5% chance of dying from, you’ve lost the vote of this life-long Democrat. Not sorry.
So we’re a nation of people who stubbornly and selfishly won’t wear masks, thus bringing viral ruin upon all of us, and we’re also a nation of people so hoping for a President who will abuse power and impose a nationwide mask mandate that it’s a plus for Biden? https://t.co/N1a63LWjhv
Another observer noted that by the time Biden makes it into office – assuming a victory in November – the virus may have already subsided, though they predicted the mask mandate would stay in force “forever” regardless.
This was BY FAR the most important statement of the entire #DemocraticConvention#DNC2020If the virus is still here in a significant way in November, Biden was probably going to win anyway. If herd immunity finally kicks in, Biden just handed Trump a HUGE weapon. This was DUMB! https://t.co/LK0K8e9qQZ
The Democratic hopeful’s broader promises to rein in Covid-19 were also pilloried for lacking in detail, driving some to ask how he would have handled the crisis any different from Trump – especially given that Biden opposed some of the president’s earlier measures against the virus.
@realDonaldTrump NOBODY Has asked Joe Biden This, “What would you do differently than Pres Trump with this COVID Virus.”He was Against the Shutdown..So That Means he would NOT HAVE SHUTDOWN the Flights as fast as you did..
Biden “There is no miracle coming” “we’ll never get our ‘normal’ lives back until we “deal w/this virus.”1. He didn’t lay out anything new on “how to deal w/virus”2. Americans are desperate to feel normal again and THIS is your sales pitch? ??♀️
Joe Biden: “I’ve got a plan to deal with COVID”*Reads a list of things President Trump has been doing this entire time*
Even from a strategic standpoint, netizens argued that Biden’s guarantees could backfire, potentially handing Trump a “huge weapon” if, contrary to his claims, the virus does taper off by election time after all.
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