June 25, 2020

Look, the people who still need convincing that voting for Trump is the worst possible idea are beyond help, in my personal opinion, but that is probably why I am not a politician. God bless Joe Biden for still doing it in the most empathetic and clear way possible.

Obama's former vice president spoke on Thursday to a crowd in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, explaining why Trump's criminally inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with his obsession with repealing the Affordable Care Act is putting millions of Americans in a "vise."

BIDEN: Worst global health crisis in living memory. And Donald Trump will file in the Supreme Court today an attempt to strip away health care coverage from tens of millions of families in the United States. Strip away their peace of mind away from more than 100 million people with pre-existing conditions. If he succeeds, more than 23 million Americans will lose their coverage overnight. Including nearly a million Pennsylvanians. Insurance could once again discriminate or deny services or drop coverage for people living with pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes, cancer, and so much more.

Perhaps most cruelly of all, if Donald Trump has his way, those who have complications from COVID-19 could become the new pre-existing conditions. Some survivors will experience lasting health impacts like lung scarring and heart damage. And if Donald Trump prevails in court, insurers would be allowed once again to strip away coverage, jack up premiums, simply because of the battle they survived fighting coronavirus. Those survivors, having struggled and won the fight of their lives, would have their peace of mind stolen at that moment they needed it most.

They would live their lives caught in a vise between Donald Trump's twin legacies, his failure to protect the American people from the coronavirus, and his heartless crusade to take health care protections away from American families. You know, I have called on Donald Trump many times to withdraw his lawsuit. Today, I'm renewing that call. Mr. President, drop the lawsuit. Stop trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. Stop taking away people's health care and their peace of mind. Now more than ever, stop trying to steal their peace of mind. I cannot comprehend the cruelty that's driving him to inflict this pain on the very people he is supposed to serve.

And people think Trump will fight for them? Has their interests in mind? Biden is right — the "twin legacies" of Donald Trump amount to maximizing Americans' exposure to a ruthless deadly disease, and doing everything he can to make sure they have no money to pay for treatment should they survive.

You can watch the full speech below:

Full text of his remarks as prepared for delivery.

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