As Trump uses daily press briefings as political rallies to spin away his monumental failure to combat coronavirus and save lives, Democratic candidate for president Joe Biden is cut off from the ability to effectively campaign. Here he offers five questions that should be posed to Trump, that underscore the difference in leadership. This is from the Biden campaign: -Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com.

1.  Why did you tell governors pleading for help from the federal government that you “haven’t heard about testing being a problem” and that you haven’t “heard about testing in weeks” when many Americans are still unable to get tested for coronavirus and earlier testing delays allowed the virus to explode across the country?
 
In a call with governors today, according to the New York Times, Trump claimed that “I haven’t heard about testing being a problem” and that he hasn’t “heard about testing in weeks” — even though countless Americans are still unable to be tested for the coronavirus, fatally undercutting our response to this crisis?
 
Trump’s baseless claim comes just days after a bombshell report by the Times showed how his failure to quickly deploy an accurate coronavirus test resulted in a “lost month” that left America blind as it tried to combat the virus’ spread, and that his administration “squandered [America’s] best chance of containing the virus’s spread.”
 
 
2.  Why did you make the unfounded claim that first responders and health care workers in New York were stealing masks, and will you heed Vice President Biden’s challenge from last night to use the DPA within 48 hours to secure life-saving personal protective equipment?
 
In a bizarre rant yesterday, President Trump claimed, without evidence, that first responders and health care workers in New York were responsible for the theft or hoarding of huge numbers of masks. This unfounded claim was Trump’s latest attempt to avoid taking responsibility for his failure to get life-saving equipment to people on the front lines of the fight against the coronavirus.
 
In response, Vice President Biden called on Trump on Sunday night to finally use the Defense Production Act within 48 hours to secure enough of the badly-needed personal protective equipment to provide for every state and first responder who needs it.
 
 
3.  GOP State Attorneys General confirmed today that they will continue their lawsuit to roll back the Affordable Care Act and kick millions of Americans off their health insurance in the midst of a pandemic. Will you, as Vice President Biden has called for, withdraw your support for this effort?
 
The Daily Beast confirmed today that at least five Republican state Attorneys General plan to continue their lawsuit to overturn the ACA — threatening the health care of millions of Americans in the middle of a pandemic. 
 
Ten years ago, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, expanding access to quality, affordable health care for millions of Americans. But instead of standing up for Americans’ health care, Donald Trump continues to lead fellow Republicans in efforts to do away with the law and the critical protections it put in place.
 
20 million Americans have received health insurance through the ACA, and it’s given better care and peace of mind to countless others — that’s why Vice President Biden sent a letter to President Trump and Republican leaders demanding that they drop their efforts to jeopardize Americans’ health care.
 
 
4.  Why did you claim again this morning on Fox News that New York already has “more than enough” ventilators and say, without evidence, that they’re being misused? And, why did it take you so long to head the pleas of governors and health care workers to use the DPA to secure more ventilators after wasting months?
 
During an interview this morning on Fox News, Trump again downplayed the critical ventilator shortage in New York, saying “[they] should be fine, based on the numbers that we see. They should have more than enough.” And that, “I’m hearing stories that they’re not used, or not used right.” This comes after Trump similarly downplayed the ventilator shortage during an interview with Sean Hannity last week.
 
Across the country, experts and health care workers on the front lines are sounding the alarm about a critical shortage of life-saving ventilators and personal protective equipment, but Donald Trump has been slow and erratic at every step of the way.
 
Trump’s months of downplaying the looming threat of coronavirus cost us precious weeks where ventilator production could have been ramped up. And, Trump’s decision to bow to corporate lobbying instead of quickly invoking the Defense Production Act has slowed and complicated efforts to get ventilators to patients whose lives depend on access to them.
 
 
5.  Why did your administration ignore existing Obama-Biden Administration plans to combat pandemics and why did you take actions that reduced our preparedness for challenges like the coronavirus?
 
POLITICO reports that the Trump administration tossed out an existing “pandemic playbook” from the National Security Council that laid out, in detail, steps to take in the face of a public health emergency like this.
 
As a result, key problems that the playbook planned for — like the current logistical challenges plaguing our health care system — went unaddressed, slowing down our response.
 
This is only one in a string of missteps by the Trump administration that left the United States unprepared and vulnerable to a future pandemic. Key positions across the government have been left unfilled, or occupied by unqualified political cronies. Similarly, CDC staff in China was slashed on Trump’s watch, removing important eyes and ears on the ground that could have given us critical early notice of the coronavirus’ spread.