Yahoo Finance Joe Biden on Claim of Trump's Positive COVID Test Before Debate: 'I Don't Think About the Former President'
Alex Wong/Getty; SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Joe Biden (left) and Donald Trump
Joe Biden gave a rather crisp answer to a question about the recent revelation that Donald Trump tested positive for COVID on Sept. 26, 2020, three days before a presidential debate in Cleveland.
While Biden spoke with reporters Wednesday, a report about former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadow's new memoir came up. The Chief's Chief, which is out Tuesday, contains passages about the days leading up to Trump's hospital stay to be treated for a COVID infection.
"Mark Meadows has written a book revealing that President Trump tested positive for COVID a few days before your first debate. Do you think the former president put you at risk?" a reporter asked the president.
Biden paused briefly, waved dismissively and said, "I don't think about the former president." He then thanked the press, left the podium and walked out of the room as reporters shouted more questions about the report.
Q: "Mark Meadows has written a book revealing that President Trump tested positive for COVID a few days before your first debate. Do you think the former president put you at risk?"
President Biden: "I don't think about the former president." pic.twitter.com/Z8apvnelYe— CSPAN (@cspan) December 1, 2021
"The story of me having COVID prior to, or during, the first debate is Fake News," Trump said in a statement on Wednesday. "In fact, a test revealed that I did not have COVID prior to the debate."
Meadows did write about a follow-up COVID test that came back negative and said Trump assumed those results gave him "permission" to conduct business as usual, which included meeting with military families at the White House, appearing at a Pennsylvania rally and traveling to Cleveland to debate Biden on Sept. 29.
Morry Gash-Pool/Getty
On Oct. 2, Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump both had COVID and promptly checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
RELATED: The Timeline of Events Leading Up to Donald Trump's Announcement He Tested Positive for COVID-19
While Biden may not think about his predecessor, Trump is still seething about his defeat to Biden more than a year ago in the 2020 presidential race and making false claims about election fraud, despite offering no proof to back it up.
"He is frustrated and still angry about Biden beating him. He can't move on," a political source told PEOPLE over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
