President Trump Calls Joe Biden 'Stupid,' Says He Would Surrender To Coronavirus

President Trump on Monday called Democratic president nominee Joe Biden “stupid” and accused the former vice president and his running mate, Kamala Harris, of disparaging administration efforts to develop a coronavirus vaccine for political gain.

At a wide-ranging news conference, Trump also lauded his administration’s efforts to restart the economy, which shut down in the spring because of the pandemic, and accused Democratic leaders of blocking the next round of stimulus to improve the party’s chances come Election Day.

Trump ticked off grievances against Democrats, saying at one point if Republicans had committed the same “crimes,” many people would be “in jail now for treason.”

“Here’s what the last four years can tell us about what to expect from Donald Trump at the podium today: Instead of honoring the backbone of our country – the essential workers keeping our economy going, the service members and veterans who have kept us safe, the working families struggling to get by because of the White House's mismanagement of COVID-19 – Donald Trump is going to remain focused on his top concern, himself,” the Biden campaign said in a press release issued before Trump’s appearance.

Trump called Biden “stupid” and Harris dangerous, saying if they are elected the economy would collapse because of increased taxes and warning of “surrender to the virus … and left-wing mobs” and the export of jobs to China.

Denying his prediction that a vaccine could become available before the Nov. 3 general election was made for political purposes, Trump said Democrats are “disparaging” the rapid development of the vaccine because they are afraid voters would recognize it as a “great achievement” that would boost the president’s reelection chances.

Biden denied the accusation, saying he would "get a vaccine tomorrow, I'd do it. If it cost me the election, I'd do it."

Trump also said people recognize him as the “most honest” person ever to hold the presidency and complained again about the Russia investigation.

“From the day I came down the escalator, I’ve been investigated by sleeze,” Trump said referring to his 2015 entrance into the presidential race and various investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia. “They found nothing.”

He also accused former President Barack Obama and Biden of ginning up the dossier that served as a basis for warrants to investigate Trump campaign figures.

On the economy, Trump predicted historic growth next year.

Trump’s comments followed a series of tweets touting the economy’s performance since the economy came to a halt at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in mid-March and more than 20 million Americans were thrown onto the unemployment rolls.

Nonetheless, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday both he and Trump favor further stimulus.

“The president and I believe we should do more stimulus,” Mnuchin said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We have about 7 and a half million jobs we need to get back until we’re back to where we were, and we want to help small businesses. We want to help businesses that are particularly impacted by this, and we’ll continue to work on proposed new legislation.”

Lawmakers are scheduled to return to the Capitol next week, ending their late-summer recess. Recent comments from both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have been increasingly negative on reaching agreement.

Provisions from the CARES Act expired July 31 with Democrats and the White House at odds over how much the federal government should provide in weekly unemployment benefits to those thrown out of work by the pandemic. Also at issue is aid to state and local governments, which have borne the brunt of pandemic costs.

Updated 4:28p.m.