After having been AWOL for almost a week, Joe Biden emerged from hiding to attack President Trump for the latter's handling of the coronavirus epidemic. Putting aside his flattened affect and his more bizarre moments, such as his confusion and face-rubbing before starting to speak and his losing track of the TelePrompter, the speech is a tissue of lies. To paraphrase Mary McCarthy's famous line about Lillian Hellman, "Every word he says is a lie, including 'and' and 'the.'"

If you have the time and stomach to watch it, here's Biden's coronavirus update, which his campaign intends to function as an alternative to Trump's actions as president (starting at 1:44):

I'm about to deliver remarks on the Coronavirus pandemic. Tune in to watch live: https://t.co/HpaqlEb7D1 — Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 23, 2020

This post doesn't have the space to address each lie, but here are the top ones:

1. Biden falsely claims thatTrump is not doing enough to protect American workers. Trump's words and actions show that his priority is enabling health care workers to do their jobs; keeping Americans safe from disease; and keeping Americans, both individuals and corporations, solvent. To that end, he has cut massive amounts of red tape to speed supplies to health care workers and possible life-saving drugs to all Americans. Democrat governors have praised his efforts. It was the Democrats who refused to pass a major relief bill so they could insert their favorite boondoggles.

2. Biden says Trump is engaging in demoralizing political attacks, implying he (Biden) would never do something like that. Are Biden and his handlers so clueless that they don't realize that this video and another Monday video are political attacks intended to undermine the president during a grave crisis? They're either buffoons or hypocrites. Neither is a good look.

3. Biden boasts that he was demanding action on January 27 while falsely implying that Trump did nothing. Trump did the most important thing of all: on January 31, he closed America's borders to Chinese flights, buying America valuable time. Biden then accused Trump of "fearmongering" and "xenophobia."

4. Biden falsely implies that Trump hasn't been calling on his military resources. Six days ago, Trump was already sending Navy hospital ships to hot spots. Then, on Sunday, Trump deployed the National Guard to help California, New York, and Washington, the three states with the highest numbers of coronavirus cases.

5. Biden falsely implies that Trump didn't invoke the Defense Production Act to increase available medical supplies. First, remember that it's the Obama administration's fault that we have a critical shortage of N95 respirator masks. Second, it's Trump who has cut red tape so that America's businesses, just as they did in World War II, can provide necessary materiel to win the war. Third, Joe and his team forgot that Trump already invoked the Defense Production Act six days ago.

6. Biden falsely says the economic stimulus isn't providing direct relief to workers, et al. As noted in Item 1, above, it's the Democrats who are holding up the economic stimulus bill, not the president. The more pertinent point is the nature of the original bipartisan bill, which does indeed provide money to keep businesses viable during the coronavirus, rather than just sending checks to individuals. Ben Shapiro provides the best answer to the fundamental dishonesty behind Biden's claim:

Their solution: radically escalated unemployment insurance for 4-6 months. And then what? Where do all those unemployed go back to work, exactly, when the companies no longer exist? — Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 23, 2020

7. Biden falsely says Trump is trying to destroy Obamacare to rid Americans of protection for pre-existing conditions. The truth is that Trump has been adamant about protecting pre-existing conditions, something he reiterated on Sunday:

I can make this commitment to you: The Republican Party is fully backing preexisting conditions. Now, if we could get a great healthcare plan, which would need the House to do — but if we can get a great healthcare plan, we will only do it if we have preexisting conditions totally backed. So, we're backing preexisting, but we'd like to get rid of bad healthcare.

8. Biden falsely says Trump is silencing the people doing the work. Again, this is a lie. One of the hallmarks of the Trump press conferences is how he routinely hands the mic over to the experts at the podium so Americans can hear directly from them, without any intermediaries. Biden, on the other hand, actually hid behind an intermediary:

Everyone knows that we're facing a real crisis from the coronavirus. But do you know how we got here and what we need to do next? Ron Klain, former White House Ebola Response Coordinator, breaks it down for us: pic.twitter.com/XRkIw2EzM4 — Joe Biden (Text Join to 30330) (@JoeBiden) March 21, 2020

The reality is that Trump is an energetic, proactive leader who is doing yeoman's work, pulling together every sector of government and the free market to deal with the coronavirus. Biden is a senile old man, long past his prime, who is a ventriloquist's dummy for cynical Democrats who need a placeholder for this election. He'd be pathetic were it not for the fact that he's always been an important player in this morally corrupt system.