Biden and Sanders: would either be a better leader than Trump in a crisis?

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders blasted US President Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak during Sunday’s Democratic debate, and offered competing visions for how they would lead in a time of crisis that has upended the daily lives of Americans.

In their first one-on-one debate, the two Democratic contenders to face Trump in the November election clashed on the proper response to the pandemic and other pressing issues, with the centrist Biden arguing he would focus on results, while the progressive Sanders pushed for bigger, more fundamental changes.

Biden, who has become a clear front-runner in the Democratic race after a series of sweeping primary wins in the past two weeks, committed for the first time to pick a woman as his running mate if he is the Democratic nominee.

“If I’m elected president, my Cabinet, my administration, will look like the country, and I commit that I will in fact appoint and pick a woman as vice-president,” Biden said, prompting Sanders to say he would “in all likelihood” pick a woman too.

The debate came two days before Tuesday’s nominating contests in the big states of Ohio, Illinois, Florida and Arizona, where another string of Biden victories would give him a nearly unassailable lead in delegates over Sanders.

The four states have said the primaries would go ahead as scheduled despite the rapidly spreading virus, which has shut down schools, restaurants and large gatherings across the country. Georgia and Louisiana have postponed later primaries by weeks.

With limited testing available, US officials have recorded more than 3,500 cases and 68 deaths in the outbreak, up from 58 on Saturday. Globally, more than 168,000 are infected and more than 6,500 have died.