Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Vaccine Timing And Candidates' Health Become Election Issues
With talk of a vaccine in time for Election Day ramping up, both Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and incumbent Donald Trump continue to confront the pandemic as a major talking point for the presidential election, now 2 months away. Yesterday, during a campaign speech, Biden called Trump’s failure to safely open schools, especially elementary schools, a "national emergency." (Soucheray, 9/3)
President Donald Trump dismissed questions about his own health and mocked his Democratic opponent for wearing a mask in a freewheeling rally Thursday in Pennsylvania that came as polls show a tightening race. For a second day, Trump dismissed questions about an unscheduled visit he made to Walter Reed Medical Center in November, brushing aside a report about the visit as a conspiracy concocted by critics. At the same time, Trump raised unfounded questions about Joe Biden's own health, and criticized his mask-wearing. (Fritze and Jackson, 9/3)
President Donald Trump on Thursday parlayed rumors over his health into another hit on Joe Biden, spinning a highly scrutinized visit to Walter Reed hospital last year into an attack on his Democratic presidential rival during a campaign event. Speaking at an airport hangar to a packed-in crowd in Latrobe, Pa., Trump claimed journalists had spread rumors of the president having "mini-strokes" because "they want to try and get me to be on Biden's physical level." (Choi, 9/3)
