Former Vice President Joe Biden gave an address on Monday where he blasted President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak growing throughout the country.

The 2020 Democratic candidate used his remarks to lament how Trump has turned the White House’s daily coronavirus briefings into “a place for political attacks or to lash out at the press.” Biden went on to salute New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for his efforts to tackle the pandemic in New York, but the ex-veep repeatedly attacked the White House for their “failure of planning and preparation” to deal with the disease.

“For too long, the warning signs were ignored,” said Biden. “The president says no one saw this coming. Well that’s just not accurate…Just based on public information that I had, I warned the threat was getting worse way back on January 27.”

Biden continued that even though he doesn’t blame Trump for the pandemic, the president refuses to take it as seriously as he needs to, and the federal government needs to do more to mobilize scientists in response to it. This led to Biden panning Trump for not using his authority under the Defense Production Act to compel manufacturers to produce more medical supplies.

“Trump keeps saying that he’s a wartime president. Well, start to act like one,” Biden said. “To paraphrase a frustrated President Lincoln, writing to an inactive General McClellan during the Civil War, ‘If you don’t want to use the army, may I borrow it?'”

Biden continued to say Trump “bears responsibility for our response, and I along with every American hopes he steps up and starts to get this right.” He went on to detail his strategy for how to address the crisis and facilitate America’s recovery once it passes.

Watch above, via Joe Biden’s YouTube Channel.

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