Trump torches Biden admin over COVID, inflation, the border, Afghanistan, and other crises
The former president says if he decides to run for president again, he believes he would win
Trump hits Biden on COVID response, inflation, border crisis
Former President Donald Trump discusses President Biden's handling of the pandemic, inflation and the border crisis and addresses the possibility of running again in 2024.
Former President Donald Trump hit out at the Biden administration on Friday, slamming his successor's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, energy policies, rising inflation, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the crisis at the southern border.
Trump told FOX Business's "Varney & Co." that he had hoped President Biden would do well in managing the coronavirus, but pointed out that "significantly" more Americans have died from the virus under Biden's watch than his own "despite all of the vaccines and the therapeutics" that are now widely available.
President Donald Trump speaks at the White House, in Washington on Nov. 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File / AP Newsroom)
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"Look, I wanted [Biden] to be successful on the on the whole thing on COVID – or as I call it, the China virus," Trump told host David Asman. "I wanted him to be successful. He's been totally unsuccessful. It's a disaster what's happened."
The former president said that he was proud to take the COVID-19 vaccine and "very proud" of the development of the inoculations in nine months under Operation Warp Speed, and said he believes people should take the vaccines.
Trump added, however, that he is against Biden's vaccine mandates, saying, "I want people to go out and want to get [vaccinated], but I don't want to force it into them," and blamed vaccine hesitancy on people's distrust of Biden.
President-elect Joe Biden speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., Friday, Jan. 8, 2021, to announce key administration posts. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh / AP Newsroom)
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Trump went on to say that Biden "lied so much" ahead of the election, pointing to Biden originally saying he would not impose vaccine mandates, and noting that Biden shut down the Keystone Pipeline nearly immediately after taking office when he had previously signaled that he would consider keeping the project going.
The energy policies of the Biden administration are directly contributing to the rising inflation, Trump said.
"What's happening with energy, nobody's ever seen it," Trump said. "In California – [gas] is $7.77 in certain areas of California….People remember in a debate, also, I said, you're going to have $5, $6, $7 gasoline, and even more than that, I just didn't know I was going to be right so soon."
President Donald Trump speaks a rally at an airport hanger on August 28, 2020 in Londonderry, New Hampshire. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) (Spencer Platt/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Trump referred to both the Biden administration's handling of the border crisis and the way the Afghanistan withdrawal was handled as "a disgrace," and the Republican says he believes that if he decides to run for the White House again, he will win.
"The whole world looks at us differently today than they did a year ago," the former president said. "A year ago, they had great respect for this country. Now they look at us like we're a bunch of wimps which they can't even believe."