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Should Biden Resign Over COVID-19 Deaths?
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Should Biden Resign Over COVID-19 Deaths?

Joe Biden has failed the pandemic leadership standards he set for Trump. If he heeded his own words, he'd no longer be president.

Peter Daou
Jan 2
25
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Should Biden Resign Over COVID-19 Deaths?
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Photo by Jim Watson,Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

In July 2020, presidential candidate Joe Biden stated that lacking “an effective plan” to contain the spread of COVID-19 was an “unjustifiable failure of leadership that costs lives every day.”

Twitter avatar for @JoeBidenJoe Biden @JoeBiden
It’s been over six months since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the United States, and President Trump still doesn't have an effective plan to contain its spread. It's an unjustifiable failure of leadership that costs lives every day.

July 31st 2020

28,631 Retweets149,579 Likes

During the final presidential debate of 2020, Biden went a step further:

Anyone who is responsible for [220,000] deaths should not remain as President of the United States of America.

Twitter avatar for @LeftistUnitySavo ☭ @LeftistUnity
According to Joe Biden's own standards he should have resigned 3 times by now.
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January 6th 2022

91 Retweets438 Likes

Fifteen months after Biden threw down the gauntlet, the highly-contagious Omicron variant is shattering infection records and ushering in another nightmarish January. America’s coronavirus death toll now exceeds 840,000. Many of those deaths were preventable. In a civilized country, there would be grave repercussions for failing to protect citizens from a once-in-a-century pandemic. Yet no Republican or Democratic leader has taken responsibility or faced accountability.

Biden was absolutely right that Donald Trump didn’t belong in the White House. Trump should be liable for the preventable coronavirus deaths on his watch. And if Biden heeded his own words, he’d have to resign for presiding over the doubling of Trump’s death toll. But in our capitalist system, nothing matters as long as the billionaire class is making money.

Pandemic Profits

Amid the COVID-19 chaos and confusion, two things have remained constant: more suffering for the people, more riches for the super-wealthy.

Twitter avatar for @NBCNewYorkNBC New York @NBCNewYork
The top 1% gained over $6.5 trillion in corporate equities and mutual fund wealth during the pandemic, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.
The Wealthiest 10% of Americans Own a Record 89% of All U.S. StocksThe top 1% gained over $6.5 trillion in corporate equities and mutual fund wealth during the pandemic, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.4.nbcny.com

October 18th 2021

14 Retweets21 Likes

Capitalism sees everything as a profit opportunity, mass death included. Early in the pandemic, Eric Trump tweeted (and later deleted), “In my opinion, it’s a great time to buy stocks or into your 401k.” The CEO of Levi Strauss told CNBC in April 2020, “I like to say that crisis creates an opportunity.” WarnerMedia’s CEO said the pandemic was ”really good for ratings.” He later apologized. If there’s anything you can count on from our system, it’s that lives will be sacrificed to enrich the 1%.

Twitter avatar for @JoshuaPotashRead Teaching to Transgress by bell hooks @JoshuaPotash
God I hate this system mass death keeps making the rich richer
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November 29th 2021

397 Retweets1,817 Likes

Politicians of both parties have jumped on the COVID-19 money train. According to Business Insider, “as the pandemic raged, at least 75 lawmakers bought and sold stock in companies that make COVID-19 vaccines, treatments, and tests.” That includes Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who grandstands as an anti-vaxxer while buying vaccine manufacturer stocks.

Twitter avatar for @TimOBrienTim O'Brien @TimOBrien
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has boasted about being unvaccinated, owns stock in 3 major vaccine makers - because, money.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has boasted about being unvaccinated, owns stock in 3 major vaccine makersInsider’s Conflicted Congress project revealed Greene holds AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson stock, each worth between $1,000 and $15,000.businessinsider.com

December 24th 2021

688 Retweets2,105 Likes

Other countries managed to provide monthly stipends for their citizens, but Republicans and Democrats could barely muster a couple of checks for struggling Americans. Biden’s presidency began with a whirlwind of spin, as his administration tried to convince the public that a promise of $2,000 stimulus checks really meant $1,400.

Twitter avatar for @peterdaouPeter Daou @peterdaou
So Biden's plan went from $2,000 to $1,400. A one time payment. Not retroactive to March. Not monthly. And no #MedicareForAll, so people will still bear the crushing burden of medical expenses. Garbage, that's what this is.

January 14th 2021

1,721 Retweets7,102 Likes
Twitter avatar for @Chumbolex👽 Chumbolex 👽 @Chumbolex
Honestly, it’s not even the $1,400 vs $2,000 for me. It’s the fact that y’all could have just not promised anything. You could have said $1,400. You could’ve done almost anything else, but instead you just lied. Y’all always fucking lie

The Democrats @TheDemocrats

.@POTUS will build on the $600 down payment provided by Congress last year, sending an additional $1,400 to households across America, totaling direct payments to $2,000 per person. https://t.co/9zfBJT7t7O

January 31st 2021

45 Retweets158 Likes

Biden campaigned as the anti-Trump, offering bold assurances that he would tame the pandemic. In October 2020, he touted his plan to “get this virus under control.” But with all his bluster, Biden’s strategy (aside from pushing vaccines) has mirrored Trump’s: Keep the workers working, the people waiting for crumbs, and the 1% raking in the dollars.

Twitter avatar for @TheChefsGardensThe fed up Chef @TheChefsGardens
In 2021 @POTUS broke every promise and opted for brutal capitalism instead #COVID19

Michael @OmanReagan

In 2020 @JoeBiden ran on: Widely available free testing Paid sick & care leave for all Policy set by public health, not politicians Assistance for workers & small business Free COVID treatments for all Food relief for all Child care & remote learning ... https://t.co/ZW2qDTsbHI

January 3rd 2022

3 Retweets3 Likes

“Whatever differences Americans may think each president has had in their lives,” writes Richard Morgan in the Washington Post, “their pandemic track records have been roughly equivalent: an average of 1,218 dead compatriots every day regardless of who is in power. Nearly one death per minute.” One coronavirus death per minute for nearly two years is a staggering statistic. What’s infuriating is that if the pandemic presidents and their parties had prioritized lives over capital, many of those deaths could have been prevented.

Twitter avatar for @angie_rasmussenDr. Angela Rasmussen @angie_rasmussen
Actual public health leadership means not putting business interests first during a public health crisis with policies you just pulled out of your ass. It’s callow, it is devastating to public confidence, and it’s going to blow up when omicron cases continue their meteoric rise.

December 28th 2021

146 Retweets632 Likes
Twitter avatar for @deardrewdixonDrew Dixon @deardrewdixon
I think the feeling of shock in the face of America’s callous response to 800,000 deaths and the sense of horror watching our government fail to protect us from a raging pandemic is the closest most white people will get to the numbing despair Black people carry every single day.

December 28th 2021

295 Retweets1,544 Likes

Trump’s pandemic plan — if you can call it a plan — was a hodgepodge of denial, disinformation, and outright recklessness. He presided over roughly 400,000 coronavirus deaths and has faced no consequences for that devastation, let alone for anything else he did as president. (The theatrics of impeachment-lite are not a meaningful consequence.)

The Republican Party has reinforced Trumpism, doing everything in its power to propagandize its base, push conspiracies, and stoke hostility and resistance to vaccines. Against the backdrop of that abysmal GOP record, Biden took the reins and said “hold my beer.”

In a Mission Accomplished moment, Democrats forecast independence from the pandemic by July 4th. A Bloomberg story said “a triumphant President Joe Biden all but announced an end to the pandemic in the U.S.” Joe Manchin predicted, “you're going to see it's getting back to normal.” “Doesn’t the air smell so much sweeter without our masks?” asked Jill Biden.

Six months later, the virus is rampaging across America and Biden has all but given up trying to contain its spread, adopting a callous approach favored by the right: “Send the kids to school and the workers to their jobs and let them get sick.”

Twitter avatar for @TweetyMctwatYellow Vests Form Like Voltron @TweetyMctwat
Joe Biden surrendered to Covid.

January 1st 2022

23 Retweets215 Likes

Like Trump, Biden could have done much more to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and much sooner. But Democrats wanted their victory lap, so they promoted vaccines, told people to take their masks off, pretended the pandemic was over, and hoped for the best. A vaccine-only strategy was foolhardy and we’ve been paying a steep — and predictable — price for it.

Twitter avatar for @peterdaouPeter Daou @peterdaou
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION'S PREMATURE PUSH FOR "NORMALCY" IS COSTING LIVES Biden/Dems had two early goals: 1. Get the capitalist machine whirring. 2. Notch a big #COVID19 "win." Thus, they pushed a rapid "return to normal," which actually bolstered the position of anti-vaxxers.
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July 27th 2021

110 Retweets351 Likes

Most Democrats will bristle at the suggestion that Biden should resign for his pandemic failures, even if he set the standard in his debate with Trump. They pin the blame for the ongoing disaster entirely on people who refuse to get vaccinated, spinning the Omicron wave as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

While data supports the argument that the anti-vaccine movement has prolonged and worsened the pandemic, if you follow Biden’s own standard, the Democratic Party’s laissez-faire strategy of uncontrolled spread is criminal. The disabled, the immunocompromised, those who lack healthcare, and children who can’t get vaccinated or whose parents won’t vaccinate them are paying the price:

Twitter avatar for @mxdevinndevin norko (they/them) @mxdevinn
folks have pushed the narrative of vulnerable people’s lives being disposable for this entire pandemic (& before), and to see @CDCDirector finding our deaths “encouraging” bc they are less valuable to y’all than economical stimulation is so so appalling. #MyDisabledLifeIsWorthy

Matthew Cortland, JD @mattbc

Today, @CDCDirector said: "The overwhelming number of deaths, over 75%, occurred in people who had at least 4 comorbidities. So really these are people who were unwell to begin with and yes, really encouraging news in the context of Omicron." This is eugenicist. https://t.co/zd3iBQTH0J

January 9th 2022

412 Retweets934 Likes
Twitter avatar for @sleepisocialistSavvy☭ @sleepisocialist
“But did they have any underlying conditions” is one of the most heartless and ableist things you could ask someone who just lost a loved one to COVID. These are the vulnerable people we are supposed to take collective action to protect. These deaths aren’t somehow “less”

January 9th 2022

25 Likes
Twitter avatar for @uche_blackstockuché blackstock, md @uche_blackstock
Pay attention to *who* is having the highest incidence of #COVID19 cases at the beginning of this first #Omicron wave. They are mostly Black (NH) and Hispanic, in urban areas, similar to our 1st wave. Think about who our essential and service workers are.
covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra…
Image

January 9th 2022

315 Retweets1,121 Likes

Biden officials knew full well that there would be opposition to their pandemic plan among Trump supporters. They had months to prepare, and spent those months making grandiose promises about ending the spread of the virus. Confronted with a mounting death toll and the proliferation of dangerous variants, the Democratic Party determined that corporate donors came first. There would be no other mitigation measures.

Twitter avatar for @jeffzelenyJeff Zeleny @jeffzeleny
"I am not going to shut down the economy. I'm going to shut down the virus," President-elect Biden said. "I will say it again: No national shutdown. No national shutdown...I think that would be counter-productive."

November 19th 2020

79 Retweets581 Likes
Twitter avatar for @AShihiparabdullah s @AShihipar
the Biden admin knew it could get this bad, it still told people "things are fine if you are vaccinated, gather as normal". its really hard to blame people when the president is setting that tone.

December 31st 2021

41 Retweets243 Likes
Twitter avatar for @The_AcumenAshleyStevens @The_Acumen
At what point do we start calling The Biden Admin and Democrats the science denialists they are? Because focusing on the economy and profits over people ain’t listening to the science. Trump and Repubs were rightfully called out on this last year, we must do the same with Dems

Rashida Tlaib @RashidaTlaib

.@CDCgov is saying "we need people back to work quicker even if they are still sick." Is this based on public health and science? Or is this in response to corporations like Delta who asked for shorter times? This decision is made as Omicron cases rise. https://t.co/inCPt7MbNk https://t.co/UKtsr46gh8

December 28th 2021

49 Retweets213 Likes

We’ll never know how much pain and grief could have been prevented if Republicans and Democrats had focused more on saving lives than lining the pockets of their big donors. But we can say for certain that egregious missteps and misdeeds by Trump and Biden have exacerbated the COVID-19 catastrophe. Will either of the pandemic presidents pay the price?

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