Joe Biden On COVID-19 In February: Don’t Panic

On Wednesday, former Vice President Joe Biden went after President Donald Trump for downplaying the threat of the coronavirus at the beginning of the pandemic to discourage panic.

Even though Biden himself basically told Americans the same thing at the same time.

Fox News' Sean Hannity aired footage Wednesday night of Biden speaking to supporters in Sumter, South Carolina, on Feb. 28, the day before Biden won the state’s primary and would go on to clinch his party's presidential nomination.

“Barack [Obama] and I, when we were — as president and vice president – we took on the virus that was threatening all of Africa and, uh, the rest of the world,” Biden said, forgetting the name of the Ebola virus. “And we set up a mechanism that worked.

“But I want to take a moment to say it’s not a time to panic about coronavirus, but coronavirus is a serious public health challenge.”

In a speech on March 12, Biden would told Americans not to “panic” about coronavirus, the day after the World Health Organization declared the virus a “pandemic.”

Biden also warned others not to “downplay” the virus — which is basically what Trump said in March to journalist Bob Woodward.

Remarks by the president that Biden now shamelessly attacks.