Biden Insists On Opposing Coronavirus Travel Ban
Despite The Advice of Experts
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
Along with former senator and vice president, Joe Biden can now add “pandemic expert” to his list of titles, or so he thinks. Biden has aggressively criticized President Trump for his decision to impose a travel ban on China, Iran, and most of Europe to decrease the spread of the coronavirus.
On Thursday, Biden tweeted:
“A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it. This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it.”
There’s just one problem with Biden’s assertion: It’s a heaping pile of malarkey, as he would say. Several leading experts on pandemics like the coronavirus agree that cutting off travel from the nations that have been impacted the most is the correct course of action.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has consistently argued that travel from Europe poses a “real threat” to the U.S. During a congressional hearing, he said, “The real risk in general right now and this is why the president took the action he did last night within the world now over 70 percent of the new cases are linked to Europe.” He continued, “Europe is the new China, and that’s why the president made those statements.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also told Congress that travel bans are necessary to contain the spread of the coronavirus. In the same hearing, he said:
“Because if you look at the numbers it’s very clear that 70 percent of new infections in world are coming from that region, from Europe. Of the 35 or more states that have infections, 30 of them now, most recently, have gotten them from a travel-related case from that region.”
Several other experts have supported the decision to halt travel from Iran, China, and Europe, insisting that it is essential to combating the spread of the virus. As of this writing, at least 2,443 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the U.S. At least 50 have died from the illness.
But, of course, Uncle Joe always knows what’s best, doesn’t he?
Biden isn’t the only Democratic politician who seems to believe he became an authority on pandemics overnight. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has also criticized the policy. Both candidates have laid out their plan for containing the virus, and neither of them involves restricting travel from any of the nations impacted.
In essence, their plans would allow individuals to fly straight from Wuhan to the U.S. We already knew the Democrats were for open borders. But none of us could have imagined that this would apply to deadly viruses as well. Go figure.
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