Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden took aim at President Donald Trump’s plan to open the economy post-COVID-19 restrictions in a round-table discussion on Thursday.
During a meeting with community leaders in Philadelphia, Biden addressed his plan for how to re-open the 3.3 million businesses that closed their doors due to the worldwide pandemic that began earlier in the year.
According to the former vice president, 41 percent of African American-owned businesses have shut their doors due to the outbreak. Thirty-two percent of Latino-owned businesses have also closed, while 19 percent of caucasian-owned businesses were forced to shut down.
“Trump has basically had a one-point plan: open businesses, just open,” Biden said.
“But it does nothing to keep workers safe and keep businesses able to stay open … [and] done very little to generate consumer confidence.”
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee went on to say that he believes free testing and personal protective gear will be crucial for businesses to move into the post-COVID era.
“Secondly, we have to go out there and we got a make sure that we’re in a situation where we guarantee paid leave for anybody who had to be, cannot show up because they have somebody suffering from disease and/or they have to be quarantined.”
In addition to personal protection, Biden promoted a robust contact tracing program that would employ around 100,000 workers — who would make over $15 an hour — to track individuals who could be spreading the virus.
“That’s the thing it’s going to pull things under control,” Biden said of the contact tracing program. The Democratic candidate went on to say he believes the government should offer grants to businesses that would cover re-starting costs in what he called a “challenging environment.” He also highlighted the need to reopen schools and childcare programs, but noted that “there’s not guidance … on how you do that.”
Biden and Trump are locked in what many predict will be a close race for the presidency this November. The pair have, however, agreed on at least one issue: both campaigns have issued statements stating they do not plan to defund police, as The Inquisitr previously reported.
Biden’s campaign released its statement after widespread calls for police to be defunded took hold in several major cities. According to his campaign spokesperson, the Democratic presidential nominee does plan to shore up other social programs, but considers police to be a crucial part of communities across the country.