Former Vice President Joe Biden's senior campaign adviser, Symone Sanders, on Sunday said President Trump and his campaign are pushing an "unfounded, salacious lie" about Biden not holding a press conference in almost three months.
"To be clear, Vice President Biden does interviews, takes questions from the press regularly and yes, in March we were, we have adjusted to this new normal just like most people in America. We've been campaigning virtually but just because we're campaigning virtually does not mean we are not meeting actual voters across the country," Sanders told Fox News' Chris Wallace. "Vice President Biden has 'campaigned' in Michigan and Florida. Dr. [Jill] Biden has campaigned in Colorado and Texas."
"The reality is we have been following CDC guidelines, Chris. What we have been doing is ensuring –" she said.
"But why hasn't he held a news conference for 80 days?" Wallace pressed.
"Chris, as y'all in the national press and the Beltway press are well aware, we take pride in prioritizing local media and so the vice president is doing local media interviews. He's doing national media interviews. He's taking questions from reporters," Sanders said.
Wallace played a clip of President Donald Trump. In the clip, Trump said Biden is staying locked in his basement and that campaign surrogates are writing statements on the former vice president's behalf.
"Does the former vice president contribute to the president being able to make that argument by being out of public view so often?" Wallace asked.
Sanders said that claim is "despicable."
"The fact that folks are parroting this unfounded, salacious lie from the president and his campaign that Vice President Biden isn't up to the challenge," she said. "He's absolutely up to it."
Fox News’ Chris Wallace confronts Biden Senior Advisor Symone Sanders on Joe Biden being “holed up in his basement” pic.twitter.com/HH5dapsk8u
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) June 21, 2020