The US election campaign now only knows one topic: Corona.
Donald Trump is exercising overall confidence - his chief of staff seems to be declaring the surrender on TV.
Washington DC
- Just over a week until the presidential election in the United States - and it looks like the coronavirus will overshadow all other topics in the "most important election in US history" *.
The recovered
Donald Trump is working on that
.
And on the weekend also his
chief of staff Mark Meadows
.
Meadows, however, provided
challenger Joe Biden *
a steep assist.
Namely, material for the thesis that Trump's government has given up the fight against Corona.
At the same time, the virus is rampant in the environment of Vice President Mike Pence.
And not just there.
On Saturday there was a new
record of corona infections
.
Corona in the USA: Trump's chief of staff causes irritation in TV interview - "We will not regulate the virus"
"We will not control the pandemic," Meadows said on Sunday in a live interview on the news
channel CNN
.
This is because you are dealing with a highly contagious virus like the flu, he argued.
In the heated exchange with
CNN moderator Jake Tapper, it
remained open whether Meadows wanted to say that the spread of corona was difficult to get under control - or whether the
White House
did not even want to try.
"What we will have under control is the fact that we will be given vaccines, drugs and other measures for relief," said Trump's chief of staff.
Mark Meadows: "We're not going to control the pandemic, we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigations."
Jake Tapper: "Why aren't we going to get control of the pandemic?"
Meadows: “Because it is a contagious virus” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/1ahyatu6co
- State of the Union (@CNNSotu) October 25, 2020
However, the
vaccines
are still in the
test phase
.
The US government experts assume that sufficient vaccine doses will not be available for all Americans until the spring.
Trump repeatedly claimed that he believed it could be done faster.
Biden described Meadows' remarks as an admission that Trump's administration "has given up trying to bring the pandemic under control".
The president surrendered to the pandemic and hoped "that the virus will simply go away if he ignores it," he said on Sunday.
Mike Pence: Vice President has five corona cases in the area - and still remains in the election campaign
Corona problems also exist in the environment of
Trump's deputy Mike Pence *
.
According to media reports, five employees of the vice president tested positive.
Only the infection of his
Chief of Staff Marc Short was
officially confirmed
.
The White House did not want to provide any information on the number of other cases with reference to data protection.
According to the guidelines of the
US health authority CDC,
Pence would actually have to
go
into
quarantine
for two weeks
, even though his own test was negative.
Instead, he wants to
make
campaign
appearances
as planned in the coming days
.
The White House points out that Pence, as Vice President, is one of the "essential employees" who have exceptions to the rules - that election campaign dates are part of such government tasks, but can be doubted.
Pence plans to fly to the state of Minnesota on Monday.
Before the US election in 2020: Trump claims, "we can get the curve even without a vaccine" - Corona numbers reach a sad record
The president dealt
with the situation in his own way in
front of his supporters in
New Hampshire
on
Sunday
: “We're getting the corner, we have the vaccines, we have everything.
We'll get the curve.
Even without the vaccines, we're going to get the hang of it.
It will pass. "
At the same time, he pointed out that he had recovered from his Covid 19 disease himself: “And do you know who got it?
Me! ”Trump
had been treated
by a large team of doctors with, among other things, an
antibody drug
that
was still
experimental
.
The number of
corona deaths in the US
meanwhile exceeded the 225,000 mark on Sunday.
Around 83,700 people tested positive each day.
On Saturday there was a new record with 89,000 new cases of infection within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Trump travels to the
state of Pennsylvania
for three appearances on Monday
, where Biden leads according to polls.
Pennsylvania could make the choice.
For victory, 270 votes from voters are required.
These vote according to the result in the individual states.
With 20 voters, Pennsylvania is one of the most important states.
(
dpa / fn
) *
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