Biden campaign aims to keep focus on Covid-19 response

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's campaign strove on Sunday to keep its focus on the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic, as President Donald Trump received treatment for Covid-19 at a military hospital.

Biden, who shared a debate stage with Trump last Tuesday, tested negative for the coronavirus again on Sunday, following two negative tests on Friday, the day Trump disclosed his Covid-19 infection.,

Biden and his wife, Jill, were due to resume in-person campaigning yesterday in Florida, where opinion polls show a tight race for the state's crucial 29 electoral college votes less than a month before the November 3 election.

Biden has repeatedly wished the president a speedy recovery. But the former vice president and his aides have used his Republican rival's positive test to underline a consistent campaign message: Biden would handle the pandemic better than Trump.

In a video posted on Twitter, Trump said he had "learned a lot about COVID" during his stay at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington.

"I learned it by really going to school -- this is the real school, this isn't the let's read the book school -- and I get it. And I understand it."

Tony Blinken, the Biden campaign's foreign policy adviser, shot back on Twitter that Trump's realizations about Covid-19 were "devastating" at this late stage.

"The time to do that was 200K deaths ago, not when it affected you. We all wish you well but also wish you had done your job. Please do it now," Blinken said.

Trump's campaign has begun describing the 74-year-old president as a "warrior" in messages to supporters that call for donations. On Sunday, Trump briefly rode in a motorcade outside his hospital to wave to supporters, igniting criticism he was putting others at risk..

Trump aides have continued to criticize Biden's cautious approach to the virus.

Jason Miller, a Trump campaign senior adviser, mocked Biden on Sunday for consistently wearing a face mask, telling "This Week" that the 77-year-old Democratic presidential nominee was using masks "as a prop."