President Donald Trump slammed former vice president Joe Biden Thursday for saying the death tally from the coronavirus in the US had reached 120 million people.
Biden, 77, who has a track record of making gaffes, misspoke about the tally during a campaign stop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He managed to catch himself when he flubbed the tally, which is more than 124,000 deaths.
However, the salvo didn't make pooled video footage of the error, which Trump, his rival in the 2020 presidential election, seized upon to criticize his opponent.
Trump unleashed his criticism of Biden in a tweet, saying: 'If I ever said something so mortifyingly stupid, the Fake News Media would come down on me with a vengeance.'
Former vice president Joe Biden flubbed when he spoke of the death tally from the coronavirus in the US on Thursday, saying that 120 million people have died from COVID-19. He is pictured during a campaign stop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he misspoke
Biden managed to catch himself when he flubbed the tally, which is more than 124,000 deaths. However, President Donald Trump didn't miss the mistake as an opportunity to criticize his rival. Trump is pictured arriving at the White House Thursday
Trump unleashed his criticism of Biden in a tweet where he claimed, 'If I ever said something so mortifyingly stupid, the Fake News Media would come down on me with a vengeance'
'This is beyond a normal mistake,' Trump added. 'Why isn't the media reporting it?'
Trump also during an appearance on Fox News told host Sean Hannity that the mistake was 'not a permissible type of error.' He mentioned that 'this is serious business,' and repeatedly said that Biden's flub was 'not a mistake.'
'That's not like an error, 'Gee, it's a slip up,' Trump told Hannity. 'That's a serious error.'
'That's not a permissible type of error, because there's something going on,' Trump added, referring to the ongoing pandemic and its continuing death toll.
'You know, it's wonderful to say, 'Gee I feel sorry,' or 'It's too bad,' because I do,' Trump explained. 'Except we're talking about the presidency of the United States, and it's just not acceptable.'
Trump also added that 'it's so crazy what's happening.'
'Here's a guy who doesn't talk. Nobody hears him. Whenever he does talk - he can't put two sentences together. I don't want to be nice or un-nice. I mean, the man can't speak.'
Trump also during an appearance on Fox News told host Sean Hannity that the mistake was 'not a permissible type of error.' He mentions that 'this is serious business,' and repeatedly says that Biden's flub was 'not a mistake'
Biden made the campaign stop to discuss his proposals on healthcare going into the presidential contest as the presumptive Democratic candidate against Trump, the Republican incumbent.
It was one of Biden's first events since returning to the campaign trail after being in lockdown during the pandemic.
During the stop, he called for protecting the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which Trump has worked on dismantling. He also criticized Trump's response to testing for the coronavirus.
Trump's campaign also took the opportunity to criticize Biden for Thursday's flub.
Trump's campaign also took the opportunity to criticize Biden for Thursday's flub
The Trump War Room, as the campaign identifies on Twitter, tweeted that biden 'is very confused.'
'He just falsely claimed 120 million Americans (more than one-third of the country) died from the coronavirus,' the tweet continued.
The campaign's tweet also recalled when Biden left viewers of a Democratic debate confused in February when he said 150 million Americans had died from gun violence since 2007. The actual number as around 373,663.
Biden had hugely exaggerated the deaths from firearms in the US since the law was passed giving gun manufacturers immunity from liability for gun violence.
'Imagine if I stood here and said we give immunity to drug companies, we give immunity to tobacco companies. That has caused carnage on our streets,' Biden said during the Democratic debate in South Carolina on February 25.
'150 million people have been killed since 2007 when Bernie voted to exempt the gun manufacturers from liability, more than all the wars, including Vietnam from that point on,' he said, including a reference to former rival and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who at the time also was running for president.
Trump's campaign in a tweet recalled when Biden left viewers of a Democratic debate confused in February when he said 150 million Americans had died from gun violence since 2007. The actual number as around 373,663
Biden's blunder came as he sought to take aim at Sanders, who was the party front-runner during the debate, over his past support of a law that protected gun manufacturers from being held responsible for gun-related deaths.
Back in 2005, Sanders voted to approve the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act - something Biden himself voted against. Biden slammed his biggest rival then, saying the law 'has caused carnage on our streets'.
Sanders was forced to defend himself, admitting that he made a 'bad vote' on that occasion. He said: 'I have cast thousands of votes, including bad votes. That was a bad vote.'
Biden's jibe was overshadowed by his gross miscalculation of the number of gun deaths across the US - which actually stood at 373,663 between 2007 and 2017 according to the Center for American Progress
However, Biden's jibe was overshadowed by his gross miscalculation of the number of gun deaths across the US.
According to the Center for American Progress, the number of firearm deaths - both violent and accidental deaths - in the US between 2007 to 2017 was 373,663, a mere fraction of the 150 million Biden stated.
The presidential candidate's blunder attracted numerous comments online from people who were shocked by the mistake, as did his latest gaffe about COVID-19 deaths.
'What is going on with Joe Biden?' wrote author and Republican National Committee spokesman Steve Guest on Twitter, in response to the mistake.
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