Democratic nominee Joe Biden put politics aside to express well wishes to President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump in an interview with local Michigan media Saturday as he campaigned in Grand Rapids.
“I genuinely feel badly for the president,” Biden said, according to WOOD TV. “I hope to God that this is something that he and his wife will be able to tolerate and get through without any lasting impact on them.”
Biden added that he learned of Trump’s condition “like everyone else did, on the news,” and reflected on how he stood across a stage from Trump on Tuesday, only a couple of days before Trump declared that he tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Democratic nominee — who announced that he tested negative for the coronavirus on Friday — said that both he and his wife had taken two COVID-19 tests prior to heading to Michigan.
“Thank God both my wife and I are negative,” Biden said.
Biden previously extended his sympathies to Trump shortly after the president revealed his positive test result early Friday morning.
Biden’s campaign also announced that it would pull its advertising attacking the president after Trump announced that he would be transferred to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
“Be patriotic,” Biden told reporters in Grand Rapids, emphasizing that Trump’s catching COVID-19 was a sign that the virus needed to be taken seriously. “It’s not about being a tough guy. It’s about doing your part. Wearing a mask is not only going to protect you; it also protects those around you. ... Don’t just do it for yourself. Do it for the people you love, the people you work with.”
See clips from Biden’s speeches in Michigan below.
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