Trump has said that if Joe Biden were elected on November 3, he would “destroy this country.” (FOLDER)
Washington:
President Donald Trump assaulted his likely opponent, Joe Biden, of “not competent” to rule the country, speaking out as polls over the weekend showed increased voter disenchantment with his own handling of the coronavirus pandemic .
“He was shot, he was shot mentally,” Trump said of Biden in a large interview with “Fox News Sunday”.
He said that if Biden is elected on November 3, he will “destroy this country”.
Faced with the multiple challenges of a growing pandemic, racial unrest and a struggling economy, Trump has made several unfounded or highly speculative accusations against the former vice president, claiming that Biden “would triple your taxes” and “finance the police”.
He added: “Religion will be gone,” referring to Democratic officials banning major religious services to stem the spread of the virus.
When asked if he would accept the November election results, even if he lost, Trump echoed his 2016 position, saying, “I have to see … I’m not just going to say yes. “.
The interview, which was taped in advance, comes as new poll results show Biden is booming as doubts about Trump’s handling of the pandemic grow amid a resurgence in many states .
Interviewer Chris Wallace told President New Fox opinion poll shows Biden a huge head start on Trump not only on his ability to manage the pandemic (with a 17-point advantage) and cope with the unrest racial (by 21 points), but even – by a single point – on the management of the economy, long a Trump strong point.
And a new Washington Post-ABC News poll has Biden topping Trump among nationally registered voters by a resounding margin of 15 points, from 55 to 40%.
Trump has dismissed the polls as “fake”, saying White House polls show him to be a winner both nationally and in major swing states.
– “Mummy mummy …” –
He repeatedly struck Biden, who kept a relatively low profile amid the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
Trump claimed the Democrat wanted to “fund the police” – a war cry from some anti-racist protesters – and insisted that the language was in a Biden policy document, although it was not in able to produce it when it was challenged by Wallace.
As he repeatedly questioned his rival’s mental acuity, Wallace asked him directly if he thought Biden was senile.
“I don’t mean that,” replied Trump. “I say he is not competent to be president.”
He wondered if the Democrat could take a cognitive ability test he said he “passed”, and said the former vice president would collapse under difficult interrogation.
“Let Biden have an interview like this, he’ll be on the ground crying for mom. He’ll say, ‘Mom, mom, please take me home.'”
– “Envy of the world” –
Trump again defended his handling of the pandemic, saying “we are the envy of the world” during the tests; and, from his early prediction that the virus would one day disappear, said, “I will finally be right.”
He again opposed any national mandate to wear the mask, saying, “I want people to have some freedom.”
Referring to racial unrest in the country and a recent surge in violent crime in certain cities, the president blamed “democratically run cities”, which he said were “stupidly run”.
Asked about statistics showing that black Americans are twice as likely to be shot and killed by police as white people, Trump replied, “Many white people are also killed. You have to say it.”
And he equated those who fly the Confederate flag with those who say “Black Lives Matter”, adding, “It’s freedom of speech.”
– “Long overdue” –
Trump has again declared his opposition to renaming U.S. military bases after Confederate Generals – even after the military supported the idea.
“I don’t care what the military says,” said the president.
“Are we going to name it after Reverend Al Sharpton?” He asked rhetorically, referring to a prominent African American civil rights leader.
There was no immediate response to Biden’s interview or his campaign, although the former vice president tweeted that “the ban on the Confederate flag of military installations has been long overdue.”
On other subjects, Trump said the economy “is doing very well,” even though millions of people remain unemployed, with some states reimposing closings. The stock market, he said, was close to records.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
