Biden Misspeaks Again... Overstates US COVID-19 Death Toll by 1000 Times

Joe Biden Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential candidate in the United States, made a mistake by exaggerating the number of deaths in the U.S. due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) by 1,000 times.

On the 20th (local time), according to U.S. media such as the New York Post and Fox News, Biden said at a campaign rally held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, "By the time this speech ends, 200 million people will have died from COVID-19."

The current number of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. is about 200,000, so this was a mistake that exaggerated the figure by 1,000 times. Considering that the U.S. population is approximately 328 million, Biden's statement implied that 60% of Americans had died from COVID-19.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) immediately posted a video of Biden's gaffe on their official YouTube account to attack him.

Biden's recent verbal slips have been ongoing. In a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last June, he mistakenly said that COVID-19 deaths had exceeded 120 million. In a video interview last month with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NASJ), he said, "Unlike the Black American community, the Latin American community has an incredibly diverse range of attitudes on various issues," which sparked controversy because it could be interpreted as implying that the Black community lacks diversity.

In May, he also caused controversy by saying in a radio interview, "If you have difficulty deciding whether to support me or Trump, then you are not Black."