Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Tuesday night expressed grave concern about the in-person voting that took place as Wisconsin held its Democratic primary amid the coronavirus outbreak, and also warned of the serious economic consequences facing the next president.
“My gut is that we shouldn’t have had the election in the first place, the in-person election,” Mr. Biden said on CNN, shortly after polls closed in Wisconsin. “It should have been all-mail ballots in, it should have been moved in the way that five other states have done it.” It was a departure from remarks Mr. Biden made last week, when he said he deferred to scientists and state officials.
Mr. Biden, the likely Democratic nominee, also made clear that the challenges the nation faces go well beyond the most immediate public health concerns.
The accompanying economic and societal crises awaiting the next president, he said, could present “probably the biggest challenge in modern history.”
“It may not dwarf, but eclipse, what F.D.R. faced,” he said, even as he expressed optimism that America would come through stronger, with opportunities to “change some of the structural things that are wrong.”
Mr. Biden’s remarks came a day after he spoke with President Trump. In the CNN interview, Mr. Biden reiterated that he offered Mr. Trump, his likely rival in November, his recommendations for fighting the virus but suggested the decision to not divulge further details of the call was Mr. Trump’s idea.
“He asked whether or not, we would not discuss the detail of what we talked about, just say that we had a good conversation,” Mr. Biden said. “He was very gracious in his conversation.”
Reference: NY Times
