Trump And Biden Have 'Very Friendly' Call On Virus Response

By Asma Khalid

Published April 6, 2020 at 4:17 PM CDT

Former vice president and Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden, seen arriving to give a speech about the coronavirus response on March 12, spoke with President Trump about the crisis on Monday.

Updated at 6:06 p.m. ET

President Trump and his likely Democratic opponent Joe Biden spoke about the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic on Monday, a conversation that had been discussed between the two sides since last week.

"Vice President Biden and President Trump had a good call," according to a statement from Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield. "VP Biden shared several suggestions for actions the Administration can take now to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and expressed his appreciation for the spirit of the American people in meeting the challenges facing the nation."

"We had a really wonderful, warm conversation," Trump said at the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House. "He gave me his point of view, and I fully understood that, and we just had a very friendly conversation."

The president said the call lasted for about 15 minutes.

The context for this conversation goes back to comments that Trump's advisor Kellyanne Conway made on Fox News last week.

"I think it's really disappointing to have President Obama's number two, who apparently doesn't talk much to him, out there criticizing, instead of saying, 'Hey, here's what we did that we thought was effective,'" Conway said on Wednesday. "Why doesn't Vice President Biden call the White House today and offer some support?"

Later when Trump was asked about the possibility of accepting a call from Biden, he said he would "absolutely" take a call from the former vice president. Earlier on Monday, Trump took to Twitter and criticized Biden for not yet calling him.

Joe Biden wanted the date for the Democrat National Convention moved to a later time period. Now he wants a “Virtual” Convention, one where he doesn’t have to show up. Gee, I wonder why? Also, what ever happened to that phone call he told the Fake News he wanted to make to me?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2020

Biden, who has been hunkered down at his home in Delaware, has been holding virtual press conferences and round tables about the pandemic. "Donald Trump is not to blame for the coronavirus," he often says, "but he does bear responsibility for our response."