President Trump Canceling Negotiations for COVID-19 Relief - Statement by Vice President Biden

Donald Trump ended the efforts to pass bipartisan relief that our nation desperately needs. He ended talks that would get help for our businesses and schools, for families struggling and for those unemployed — that would have preserved hundreds of thousands of jobs. Make no mistake: if you are out of work, if your business is closed, if your child’s school is shut down, if you are seeing layoffs in your community, Donald Trump decided today that none of that — none of it — matters to him. There will be no help from Washington for the foreseeable future. Instead, he wants the Senate to use it’s time to confirm his Supreme Court Justice nominee before the election, in a mad dash to make sure that the Court takes away your health care coverage as quickly as possible.

He turned his back on the small businesses that are struggling to keep their doors open. He turned his back on the firefighters and police officers and other first responders who depend on state and local government budgets that are strained to the breaking point. He turned his back on teachers and school children — standing in the way of support to get the PPE and cleaning supplies and ventilation needed to safely reopen schools. He turned his back on every single worker whose job hasn’t come back yet–and who are left to wonder when they’ll get the break they deserve. He turned his back on families struggling to pay rent, put food on their table, and take care of their kids.

Worse yet, he never even really tried to get a deal for these Americans. Not once did he bring Republicans and Democrats together in the Oval Office, on the phone, or by Zoom, to get a relief package that would help working people and small businesses in this country. Not once in the months since the House passed a relief package in May has he stepped up to lead.

Today, I spoke to the country about the need to pull people together, regardless of their political background, to unite our country and to get things done for the American people.

That’s the job. To deliver for the people of this country. That’s what I did when I went to Congress and got the votes for the Recovery Act and led its implementation to pull our nation back from the brink in 2009 and kick off the longest uninterrupted streak of job growth in our history. That’s what I will do as president. And it’s what Donald Trump has again made clear he has no intention of doing ever.