Former Vice President Joe Biden has been hiding in his basement for months since the start of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. He's done a few interviews via Skype and Zoom but he hasn't made much of an appearance until this past week during the Democratic National Convention. It's been unclear how his campaign is handling things, like virus precautions. Despite being asked about what they're doing, the Biden campaign has refused to answer whether or not the former vice president has been tested or came up positive for the Wuhan coronavirus.
Because of that, ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield what's taking place.
"On July 28th Joe Biden said he hadn't been tested for the coronavirus. But this week, your campaign refused on two occasions, to answer the question of whether or not he had been tested," Stephanopoulos said. "So can you clarify. Has Joe Biden been tested for COVID? Has he had the virus?"
"He has not had the virus," she said.
Bedingfield cited the DNC, saying journalists at ABC got firsthand views of the steps the campaign is taking to keep the candidate safe.
"We've put in place incredibly strict protocols to ensure that everybody involved, who is around Vice President Biden, who's around Senator Harris, is undergoing the appropriate testing," she explained.
Interestingly enough, Bedingfield said Biden hasn't had the virus, but he also has not been tested.
"We've put the strictest protocols in place and, moving forward, should he need to be tested, he certainly would be, but he has not been tested yet," she said.
NEW: “He has not been tested; however, we have put the strictest protocols in place,” Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield tells @GStephanopoulos when asked if Joe Biden has been tested for COVID-19. https://t.co/P6iz1jjwYE pic.twitter.com/flY9bWMJ6x
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 23, 2020
If Biden hasn't been routinely tested for the Wuhan coronavirus, how do we know that he never had it? Both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are routinely tested for the virus out of an abundance of caution. Shouldn't the same thing be happening with the Biden campaign? He could be like many people who are asymptomatic and still have the virus. It seems silly not to routinely test the man that wants to be the leader of the free world, especially because his age puts him at greater risk for contracting the virus.
Maybe their strategy is to keep him on lockdown until Election Day.