Kellyanne Says Biden Has No Pandemic Plan — Then Claims She Read It

Reprinted with permission from MediaMatters

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway falsely claimed on Wednesday that Joe Biden had no plan to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Less than a minute later, she claimed to have read Biden's entire COVID-19 plan.

On Fox News, Conway complained that Democrats had not explained how Biden would address the coronavirus.

"If they've got a good idea," she demanded, "they shouldn't be sitting 'til November 4th."

Host Sandra Smith corrected Conway, noting that Biden indeed has a plan.

"Oh yeah? Where is it?" Conway demanded.

"It's on his campaign website," Smith answers. "It's there. You can read through it. They ask for a lot more funding [and] a lot more testing."

Conway then claimed to have already studied Biden's COIVD-19 proposals, saying, "I read his plan. It doesn't make any sense. Thank you."

"Joe Biden's Plan to Beat COVID-19" is a five-point policy proposal. It calls for: "1) test-and-trace, (2) sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) for all, (3) science-based treatments and vaccines, (4) steps to reopen safely and effectively, and (5) protecting those at high-risk, including older Americans."

Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, also called for a temporary national mask mandate on Friday.

"Every single American should be wearing a mask when they're outside for the next three months, at a minimum. Every governor should mandate mandatory mask-wearing," Biden said during a public health briefing. "Let's institute a mask mandate nationwide starting immediately, and we will save lives."

Dr. Robert Redfield, the Trump-appointed director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said last month that face coverings could be a huge part of curbing the spread of the coronavirus.

"If all of us would put on a face covering now for the next four weeks, six weeks," he told reporters, "we could drive this epidemic to the ground."

But Trump has refused to call for a mandate, taking at least 28 often-contradictory positions on face masks since the start of the pandemic. He has almost always refused to wear masks in public.

Trump's botched handling of the coronavirus crisis has helped fuel the worst outbreak of any country in the world. More than 5.4 million Americans have contracted COVID-19 to date; at least 171,000 of those have died.

A CNN poll, released Wednesday, found an all-time high 59 percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the pandemic.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.