Trump's Campaign Speech On COVID-19 Number Engineering 'Beat' Joe Biden

Joe Biden (Sumber: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - Former Vice President of the United States (US) Joe Biden criticized the statement made by Donald Trump. During his campaign in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump ordered officials in his administration to slow down COVID-19 testing.

Trump is trying to fabricate. By slowing down COVID-19 testing, Trump hopes the number of cases in his country will 'drop'. Joe Biden, who is also Trump's rival in the upcoming US election, tweeted: Speed up testing.

The tweet comes after Trump made a surprise statement during the campaign. A US administration official later said that President Trump was "obviously joking."

Speed up the testing.

- Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) June 21, 2020

"You know testing is a double-edged sword," Trump said, complaining about the press coverage frame of how to deal with COVID-19.

"This is the worst part ... When testing that far, you will find more people; you will find more cases. So I say to the officials (in his administration), please slow down the testing," Trump said.

Launching CNN, Monday, June 22, Deputy Campaign Manager Joe Biden, Kate Bedingfield also expressed her comments. He said that what Trump said was "an embarrassing moment that will be remembered long after the catastrophic campaign that night."

"President Trump has just acknowledged that he puts politics ahead of the safety and economic well-being of the American people, even as we just recorded the number of new COVID-19 cases in nearly two months and 20 million workers remain unemployed," Bedingfield said.

Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said Trump's comments were very consistent with the White House's policies on the virus. In addition, Dr. Ashish Jha regretted the comments which considered the statement a joke.

"It's very frustrating for millions of Americans who are sick and haven't been tested yet," said Jha.

"It must be very frustrating for people who have lost families in nursing homes because we haven't been able to do the testing in nursing homes and workers or meat packaging factory workers. Unfortunately this is not a joke," added Jha.

Jha continued, the US death toll of over one hundred thousand was largely due to a lack of testing for COVID-19. Trump said this was also because many states, including Oklahoma, had an increase in COVID-19 cases, exceeding the number of COVID-19 tests. As of Thursday June 18, at least 21 US states saw an increase in cases from one week to the next, according to an analysis from John Hopkins University.

Trump's campaign seems to dismiss concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He is moving ahead with the campaign scheduled, even though public health officials have warned about the risk of transmission.

The President's comments about the testing also came hours after six staff working for the campaign in Tusla, Oklahoma, tested positive for COVID-19. They tested positive for COVID-19 hours before Trump arrived in Oklahoma.

Last week, Trump also said that testing for COVID-19 was excessive. He also said it made the United States look bad.

The campaign in Tulsa on Saturday June 20 drew a smaller crowd than expected. Trump also said that COVID-19 has more names than any other disease.

"I can say, 'Kung Flu.' I can name 19 different versions, "Trump said.

Trump gave a nearly two-hour speech marking Trump's return after a three-month campaign hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump has also stated that he is enjoying the opportunity to cut the media, cutting "radical leftists" who he says are taking over American streets. Not to be left behind, he commented on his rival, Joe Biden, who he described as a weak and mentally incapable person.