The coronavirus remains ubiquitous in the presidential campaign in the United States. Donald Trump accused his Democratic rival Joe Biden on Thursday, August 13 of "politicizing" the Covid-19 pandemic, and rejected his call for compulsory masks to be worn in the country.

Former Barack Obama vice president and new running mate Kamala Harris have focused their first day of joint campaigning on the pandemic, seeking to fight Donald Trump over his handling of this major crisis.

With more than 166,000 deaths and five million recorded cases, the United States has the heaviest toll in the world. And the health crisis has devastated the world's largest economy.

"Saving over 40,000 lives"

After a briefing with public health experts, Joe Biden called on the governors of the 50 American states to "introduce the obligation to wear a mask now." This could "save more than 40,000 lives" across the country, he told reporters from his home town of Wilmington, Delaware.

"We are in America. Be patriots. Protect your fellow citizens," added the 77-year-old Democrat, while Senator Kamala Harris, 55, listened to him from a distance, wearing a black mask.

A "retrograde (...) and very defeatist approach", reacted Donald Trump during his daily press conference at the White House on the pandemic, accusing his rival of "politicizing the virus". "Sleeping Joe prefers the idea of ​​locking all Americans in their basement for months over the scientific approach," he said, using the mocking nickname he gave his rival.

Political division

"We called on the Americans to wear masks. And I stressed that it was a patriotic act," continued the Republican billionaire, before however casting doubt on their effectiveness. "Maybe they're amazing, maybe they're just good, maybe they're not that good, but frankly what have you got to lose?"

Despite the recommendations of the experts, the wearing of the mask has become a subject of political division in the United States, Donald Trump having avoided wearing one in public until mid-July.

About thirty American states have established obligations to wear the mask, especially indoors or in frequented areas in the open air. But in some epicentres, such as Florida or Georgia, the Republican governors did not want to impose.

"Crazy woman"

It should "be up to public health professionals to lead our country's policy to tackle this deadly pandemic," insisted Kamala Harris for his part.

Since the formalization of his appointment as running mate, Donald Trump has had harsh words for the former Democratic primary candidate, reminding us that she had to give up the race even before the first ballot. Kamala Harris is "kind of a crazy woman," he told Fox Business on Thursday.

The new Democratic tandem leaves with an advantage: Joe Biden is ahead of Donald Trump in national polls - between 6 and 9 percentage points in the last 30 days, according to the average of the site RealClearPolitics - and in several key states.

With AFP

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