Donald Trump says Joe Biden is either lying or ‘mentally gone’ after US President’s Covid vaccine claims

Donald Trump claimed Joe Biden is either lying or “mentally gone” for saying he arrived in office to find no Covid-19 vaccines available – as he hinted at running again for the presidency in 2024.

The former president attacked his successor over the comment as he gave his first interviews since leaving the White House, saying it was a “very dumb statement” – particularly as Mr Biden himself had been given a vaccine before his inauguration.

Mr Biden, asked about combating Covid on Tuesday had told a CNN town hall meeting: “It’s one thing to have the vaccine – which we didn’t have when we came into office – but a vaccinator: How do you get the vaccine into someone’s arm?”

His comments were immediately seized upon by critics, who pointed out that a vaccine had been available in the US since before Christmas.

“We were giving millions of shots, millions of doses,” Mr Trump said yesterday. “So he was either not telling the truth or he’s mentally gone. One or the other.”

Asked by Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly about running again for president, he said: “I won’t say yet. But we have tremendous support” and said his poll numbers were ”through the roof”.

He also suggested that Twitter was “boring” without him.

He said his team was still exploring its options for returning to social media and “negotiating with a number of people” while still keeping the option of building his own platform on the table.