US Election: Biden accuses Trump of waving ‘white flag of defeat’ over coronavirus

US presidential challenger Joe Biden on Sunday accused Donald Trump of giving up in the fight against COVID-19 after Trump’s chief of staff said “we are not going to control the pandemic.”

“It was a candid acknowledgement of what President Trump’s strategy has clearly been from the beginning of this crisis: to wave the white flag of defeat and hope that by ignoring it, the virus would simply go away. It hasn’t, and it won’t,” Biden said in a statement.

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In a related development, a new coronavirus outbreak at the White House involving Vice President Mike Pence’s staff comes as the US reported a near-record number of new cases on Saturday.

Mark Meadows, White House chief of staff, told CNN on Sunday that Pence was an essential worker and did not need to quarantine as recommended by guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some of Pence’s aides also tested positive, Meadows said.

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