Joe Biden rips into Trump for playing golf instead of 'fixing PPE shortages' even as coronavirus cases spike
President Donald Trump has shown again that he is no mood to slow down on his personal passions even as the coronavirus pandemic is giving America a tough time. The poll-bound incumbent president was seen kicking off his Fourth of July weekend by going to Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia. It was the third time this week that Trump has been found going for golfing. Pictures came up from the private golf club showing the president arriving just around 10 am with a white polo shirt, red-ball cap and dark pants on and his likely opponent in this year's presidential election Joe Biden is not impressed.
Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, slammed Trump’s golfing schedules at a time when the coronavirus cases have surged in the country. The US has now nearly 2.8 million cases while more than 129,000 lives have been lost in the pandemic. In a tweet, the 77-year-old former vice president asked Trump to fix the shortage of PPEs before attending the golf round. “We are five months into this crisis, and our health care workers still don't have the masks and protective equipment they need. It's a national disgrace. Mr. President, use your authority and fix the shortage of PPE before you tee off for yet another round of golf,” he said.
Trump visited golf clubs more than 270 times after becoming president
According to a report in The Golf News Net, Trump has visited golf clubs more than 270 times since taking over as the president in January 2017. He had said during his campaigning for the 2016 presidential election that he would have less time for golfing after becoming president because of work.
The president, who has a packed schedule this Independence Day weekend, however, was seen not displaying a mask during his sporting time. The president and his administration have been criticized for not encouraging people to wear masks at his two mega events planned at Mount Rushmore on Friday July 3 and National Mall on Saturday, July 4. He left for the North Dakota site with FLOTUS Melania after teeing and made a speech in which he took on the 'new far-left fascism'.
Virginia, like several other states, has also seen a spike in its coronavirus cases over the last many weeks. It has recorded nearly 1,900 deaths and the Republican mayor of Virginia Beach, Bobby Dyer, said earlier this week that 41 percent of the new cases in the state are between those aged 20-29 while 61 percent aged between 20-39.
Trump has been facing a plethora of challenges of late, starting from the coronavirus outbreak. His administration has been criticized over its handling of the pro-Black protests as well as the latest allegations that Russia has paid Taliban extremists to kill American troops deployed in Afghanistan. The Russia plot has enraged several Americans and glimpses of it could be seen at the golf venue on Friday, July 3, as a woman was seen displaying a placard saying “Trump is a Traitor”, reported New York Daily News.
The president though looked at ease at the golf court where four men joined him. He was even seen giving a ‘low five’ to a golfing mate without sterilizing his hands. Virginia’s health department has stressed repeatedly on social distancing to prevent the spread of coronavirus as the state begins its final reopening phase.
Last weekend, Trump played golf with the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham. On Thursday, July 2, the South Carolina senator told Fox & Friends that the president beat him “like a drum”.