US election 2020: Joe Biden works on coronavirus plan as Donald Trump golfs
- The president-elect is set to launch a Covid-19 task force on Monday led by ex-surgeon general Vivek Murthy and ex-FDA commissioner David Kessler
- Trump gives no sign of conceding, and top Republicans in Congress still have not acknowledged Biden’s victory
A day after clinching the US presidency, Democrat Joe Biden and his advisers were working on Sunday on how to address the nation’s coronavirus crisis while reinforcing his intention to bridge America’s gaping political divisions.
Republican Donald Trump, the first incumbent US president to lose a re-election bid in 28 years, gave no sign of conceding as his campaign pressed ahead with legal fights against the outcome. Instead, he returned to his golf club in Sterling, Virginia, on Sunday.
Illustrating the uphill battle Biden faces after taking office on January 20 in working with lawmakers from Trump’s party, the top Republicans in Congress on Sunday still had not acknowledged the former vice-president as the winner.
In a speech in his home state of Delaware on Saturday, Biden delivered a message of unity and conciliation, declaring that it is “time to heal” the nation and reaching out to Americans who voted for Trump and to congressional Republicans.
“The work starts right away,” Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield said on Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press programme.
Biden on Saturday made clear that tackling the pandemic was a top priority. Bedingfield said Biden planned to launch a coronavirus task force on Monday to plot the way forward, led by former surgeon general Vivek Murthy and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler.