President Joe Biden took a jab at former President Donald Trump's handling of COVID-19 by recalling the early days of the pandemic when misinformation ran rampant.
Biden criticized his GOP rival for suggesting questionable methods to combat the virus, suggesting that the New York businessman "injected bleach."
The rivalry between Biden and Trump is heating up as both gear up for the upcoming November general election.
During a recent speech in Houston, and another at the Intel Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Arizona, Biden criticized Trump's actions, specifically referring to reports where Trump allegedly advised the public to ingest bleach as a potential treatment for COVID-19.
"Just a few days ago, [Donald Trump] asked a famous question in one of his rallies: Are you better off today than you were four years ago?" the 81-year-old told those at the fundraiser event. "Well, Donald, I'm glad you asked that question, man. I hope everyone in the country takes a moment to think back to what it was like in March of 2020."
"Remember when he said inject bleach?" Biden continued. "I think he must've done it."
Despite the joke landing well with the crowd, Trump never actually told people to ingest bleach.
During a White House press conference in April 2020, William Bryan, a former Department of Homeland Security senior official, presented a study showing that cleaning agents could kill the virus on surfaces.
When Bryan made his original statement, Trump told the public, "I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute, one minute. Is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs, and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it'd be interesting to check that so that you're going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me."
"It wouldn't be through injection. We're talking about through almost a cleaning, sterilization of an area," the ex-president clarified. "Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't work. But it certainly has a big effect if it's on a stationary object."
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According to Real Clear Politics, Trump is holding a slight lead to Biden with just a 2-point swing in his direction. However, if you look closer to the swing states, the New York businessman holds more of a commanding lead, with some battleground areas having the former president with a 5-point lead on his Democratic opponent.