Biden looks to turn campaign focus to pandemic as Trump dwells on protests

Democratic nominee Joe Biden looked to shift the focus of the U.S. presidential race back to the coronavirus and President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic during a Wednesday campaign event on safely reopening the country’s schools.

The health crisis, in which more than 184,000 Americans have died, has been overshadowed in recent days by civil unrest in Portland, Oregon, and Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a white policeman shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back last week, triggering protests.

Biden’s event was part of his campaign’s effort to make the Nov. 3 election in part a referendum on the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak and came as millions of students are starting a new school year either virtually or under restrictive conditions.

“If President Trump and his administration had done their jobs early on in this crisis, American schools would be open. And they’d be open safely,” Biden said after receiving a briefing from health experts in Wilmington, Delaware.

Biden and his Republican opponent have offered dueling arguments over which candidate can keep the country safe.

Each has accused the other of fostering the sometimes violent protests over racial injustice and police brutality that have rocked the nation for months after the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis police custody.

Trump, who visited Kenosha on Tuesday, has sought to leverage the volatile climate surrounding the protests to his political benefit, casting himself as a “law-and-order” president holding the line against chaos.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows his approach has yet to boost his national standing. The poll released on Wednesday showed that most Americans do not see crime as a major problem confronting the nation and a majority remain sympathetic to anti-racism protests.

By contrast, 78% of Americans said they remain “very” or “somewhat” concerned about the pandemic. The poll showed that 47% of registered voters support Biden compared with 40% who said they will vote for Trump.

Biden plans to travel to Kenosha on Thursday, where he will hold a community meeting, his campaign said.