Biden slams Trump for concealing pandemic threat: 'It was a life-and-death betrayal of the American people'

While visiting Michigan on Wednesday, Biden pointed to Trump telling Woodward in a recorded February interview that the virus was more deadly than the flu, airborne and highly contagious.

"He knew it and purposely played it down. Worse, he lied to the American people. He knowingly and willingly lied," Biden said about the threat posed by the virus, which has now left more than 185,000 Americans dead.

"It's beyond despicable. It's a dereliction of duty. It's a disgrace," Biden said. "He failed to do his job on purpose. It was a life-and-death betrayal of the American people."

The former vice president was in Michigan to make an economic case against Trump in Macomb County, rolling out a plan to stop businesses from moving jobs overseas in one of the nation's most important battlegrounds in November's election.

Macomb County is a swing region that Trump won by 12 percentage points in 2016 -- making him the first Republican to win the county since 1988.

Biden's speech is part of his campaign's efforts to counter Trump's rosy predictions of a rapid economic recovery once the coronavirus pandemic recedes and a vaccine becomes available.

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Biden's trip comes the day before Trump will visit Michigan for a rally in Freeland, just northwest of Saginaw. Wednesday marks Biden's first visit to the state -- part of the "blue wall" that also includes Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that Trump toppled against Hillary Clinton in 2016 -- since March 9, where he held a rally in a Detroit high school gym on the eve of the state's Democratic presidential primary. The next day, Biden halted in-person campaign events because of the pandemic.

"I believe this race is tightening up. We've seen polling to that effect, and I'm not surprised by it," Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat and co-chair of Biden's campaign who won Macomb County by four points in 2018 on the way to a 10-point win statewide, said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

Biden's campaign on Wednesday unveiled a new proposed tax policy and package of executive actions that would be aimed at preventing companies from moving jobs overseas.

He is proposing adding a 2.8 percentage point surtax on top of a 28% tax rate, for a total rate of 30.8%, on profits from American companies that produce goods overseas and then sell those goods back into the US market.

Meanwhile, he is proposing an advanceable 10% tax credit for "companies making investments that will create jobs for American workers," a campaign document said.

Biden would also close corporate loopholes in the 2017 tax law Trump signed, and would create a "Made in America" office within the Office of Management and Budget to enforce "Buy American" policies, the campaign document detailing his plan said.

This story has been updated with comments from Biden on Wednesday.