Trump ‘walked away’ from Covid crisis: Biden

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Sunday he blames Donald Trump for "walking away" as Covid-19 ravaged the country, in a televised interview alongside running mate Kamala Harris on the eve of the Republican convention.

The president, who is trailing Biden in polls, has been heavily criticized for his response to the pandemic, during which he has pushed for lockdown restrictions to be lifted early, been hesitant to embrace face masks, touted treatments not supported by medical experts and insisted the virus will just "disappear."

"I don't blame him for the current crisis," Biden told ABC as the US neared 5.7 million infections and 177,000 deaths, by far the most in absolute terms of any country in the world. "I blame him for walking away and not dealing with solutions."

With the economy in shambles after pandemic-related lockdowns, Biden said again that the only way to get back on track was to bring the virus under control.

He vowed to heed scientific advice -- even if that would mean shutting country down once more. Biden slammed the segment of Americans who cite their "freedom" as they still resist wearing masks, despite evidence suggesting such barriers are one of the best ways to break transmission of Covid-19.