Biden Slammed For Banning Travel From India After What He Said When Trump Banned Travel From China

Critics slammed Democrat President Joe Biden on Thursday for banning travel coming from India after he criticized former President Donald Trump for banning travel from China following the initial coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan more than a year ago.

“Biden is expected to impose new travel restrictions on India starting Tuesday in light of the COVID-19 epidemic, barring most non-U.S. citizens from entering the United States,” Reuters reported. “The new restrictions are on the advice of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and are imposed ‘in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 case loads and multiple variants circulating in India.’”

India’s current wave of coronavirus is so severe that the nation accounted for more than half of the world’s reported coronavirus cases for the month of April. Experts warn that India’s numbers are likely being undercounted for a variety of reasons.

Following the news that Biden would ban travel coming from India, which does not include U.S. citizens, many online noted that Biden criticized Trump for banning travel from China near the start of the pandemic.

The Trump administration announced on January 31 actions to restrict travel coming in from China during the early days of the pandemic.

“The White House declared a ‘public health emergency’ and — beginning on Sunday at 5 p.m. — will bar non-U.S. citizens who recently visited China from entering the United States, subject to a few exemptions,” The Washington Post reported at the time. “The new travel and quarantine measures, which appeared to be unprecedented on such a scale, were part of a rapidly evolving international response to the growing health scare.”

The day following the move by the Trump administration, Biden wrote on Twitter: “We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science — not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering. He is the worst possible person to lead our country through a global health emergency.”

Fact-checkers rushed to Biden’s defense, claiming that Biden did not oppose Trump’s travel restrictions because Biden did not specifically mention the travel restrictions and because Biden had called Trump similar names in the past. Biden’s campaign claimed a couple of months later that Biden supported the ban.

We are in the midst of a crisis with the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science — not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering. He is the worst possible person to lead our country through a global health emergency.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 1, 2020

However, several weeks later, Biden directly attacked Trump in a statement responding to Trump mentioning the travel restrictions placed on China.

“I always treated the Chinese Virus very seriously, and have done a very good job from the beginning, including my very early decision to close the ‘borders’ from China – against the wishes of almost all,” Trump tweeted on March 18. “Many lives were saved. The Fake News new narrative is disgraceful & false!”

Biden responded to Trump’s tweet by writing: “Stop the xenophobic fear-mongering. Be honest. Take responsibility. Do your job.”

Biden’s tweet, which is featured below, does not show Trump’s original tweet because Twitter censored Trump by banning him from their platform. An archive of Trump’s tweet can be found here.

Stop the xenophobic fear-mongering. Be honest. Take responsibility. Do your job. https://t.co/nQ5aLVrpyb

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 18, 2020

An even more damning tweet from Biden came on April 30, when Biden wrote on Twitter: “A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe – or any other part of the world – will not stop it. This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet – and we need a plan to combat.”

A wall will not stop the coronavirus.

Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it.

This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 13, 2020

Here are some of the responses that Biden received online to his India travel ban:

Joe Biden called Trump “xenophobic” when he restricted travel from China early on in the pandemic. Now, Joe Biden has announced he’s restricting travel from India due to a surge in COVID-19 cases there.

Can’t wait to see how Jen Psaki spins this one.

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) April 30, 2021

2006 @JoeBiden: “you cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.”

2021 Joe Biden: pic.twitter.com/2oW3WjFGKX

— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) April 30, 2021

🚨🚨🚨

XENOPHOBIA!! RACISM!!

White House to restrict travel from India https://t.co/KDQJOueHV0

— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) April 30, 2021

Seems awfully xenophobic and racist (to use the left’s parlance). https://t.co/Lv7VvjGgBo

— Buzz Patterson (@BuzzPatterson) April 30, 2021

We were told this was xenophobic https://t.co/QRPeFyEVrU

— YAF (@yaf) April 30, 2021

XENOPHOBE!!!! https://t.co/Dh8ZHGKlN4

— Eric July (@EricDJuly) April 30, 2021

Seriously though, China sent us this virus. China is an arch enemy of India. Biden family is very close to China, as are its corporate cronies. Instead of sending HELP to our ally India, he sets up this ban with no self-awareness of how Democrats characterized travel bans before. https://t.co/O4W7wHbtOk

— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@pnjaban) April 30, 2021

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