Biden says he ‘can hardly wait’ to debate Trump

DUNMORE, Penn. (WBRE/NBC) – Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden visited Dunmore, Pennsylvania on Thursday at McGregor Industries to discuss his economic recovery plan.

NBC affiliate WBRE spoke one-on-one with Biden after he addressed the crowd, and the interview covered a wide range of topics, including the economy, upcoming debates, and his potential vice president nominee.

He also criticized President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “The president does not believe in science,” Biden said. “Look what’s happening right this minute — he got back from the Center for Disease Control about school openings and says, ‘You’re being too strict, don’t have those standards, we want other standards.’ He doesn’t listen to the science, this, you know, wearing this mask, social distancing, making sure that you, in fact, invest in being at people being able to open up safely, providing money for those small businesses and restaurants to be able to open in a way that they can provide security for their customers coming in. He’s done none of that, none of it. This is a guy that says it’s going to go away, it’s going to be like magic. He still absolutely, it’s bizarre, the things he’s saying and doing in regard to COVID, and he acts like you can separate COVID-19 and jobs. The jobs aren’t going to come back until you gain control over COVID-19.”

When addressing police issues, Biden said the following: “I oppose defunding and I have from the beginning. I have from the beginning, but I do call for significant, different changes in police conduct. There should be, for example, no chokehold. We should have the ability of the Justice Department to know what police departments are engaging in patterns and practices of abuse and all that information should be made available to us as we did in our administration. We should be in a position where we insist that police in fact wear body [cameras]. Look, the vast majority of police are decent, honorable, risk their lives. I’ve gotten support from police unions my entire career. I’ve worked with them. But, there are some bad apples, and you have to deal with the bad apples. Not all presidents, not all senators, not all newspaper people are all created equal. There are some cops that are bad and they have to be rooted out.”

Biden also talked about eventual debates with President Trump. “I can hardly wait,” he said. “I can hardly wait to deal with what he refers to himself as a ‘stable genius.’ I can hardly wait to debate him.”

Biden also talked about jobs, equality in the workplace, and giving every worker a fair share.

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