(Reuters) – President Donald Trump has seized on Americans’ growing animosity toward China over the coronavirus outbreak to underpin his re-election pitch, arguing he will hit Beijing harder than anyone.
FILE PHOTO: Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks during the 11th Democratic candidates debate of the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, held in CNN’s Washington studios without an audience because of the global coronavirus pandemic, in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2020. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo
That is just so much tough talk, hardly substantiated by action, says the campaign for presumed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, senior adviser Jake Sullivan told Reuters in an interview.
Biden’s campaign is preparing to roll out policies on how his future administration would better deal with China and will continue to show how Trump is weak on America’s top geopolitical and economic competitor, Sullivan said.
“The vice president intends to do two things: hold Trump accountable for a catastrophic set of failures in his approach to China, and a colossal gap between tough talk and weak action,” said Sullivan, one of several former Obama administration officials who comprise Biden’s foreign policy team. Biden served as President Barack Obama’s No. 2 for eight years.
On the coronavirus, Biden will keep criticizing Trump for repeatedly praising Chinese President Xi Jinping despite global concerns over a lack of transparency on the severity of the crisis, Sullivan said.
On global alliances, Biden’s team argues that Trump is helping China by undermining U.S. relations with traditional allies, and reducing America’s ro