Trump Accidentally Says He’ll ‘Vanquish the Vaccine’ as Biden Accuses Him of Surrendering to COVID

President Donald Trump inadvertently suggested that a COVID-19 vaccine would be defeated during a campaign rally in Omaha, Nebraska on Tuesday. The president misspoke at a time when his campaign is trying to paint former Vice President Joe Biden as suffering from cognitive decline.

“We will vanquish the vaccine, and we will get rid of this…virus,” Trump told the crowd.

“You watch, it’s going to happen very quickly, and we’re going to have our country back. And the whole world is going to be coming back,” he went on. “This was a terrible, terrible thing to happen.”

Trump: We will vanquish the vaccine pic.twitter.com/NcZ7QOKw4h

— Acyn (@Acyn) October 28, 2020

The president has previously said a vaccine for COVID-19 might be available on or near election day but with less than a week to go until November 3, that prospect remains unlikely. Also on Tuesday, Biden accused Trump of surrendering to the virus.

Biden told a campaign event in Warm Springs, Georgia that the administration’s response to COVID was ‘a capitulation’ from a White House that ‘never really tried.’

The Democratic nominee said Trump had ‘shrugged, he swaggered and he surrendered’ to the virus, citing White House chief of staff Mark Meadows’ recent comments that ‘we’re not going to control the pandemic.’

“I’m here to tell you: We can and we will control this virus,” Biden said.

Both Nebraska and Georgia are traditionally red states but this year, Georgia may be in play for the Democrats for the first time in decades, while Trump’s decision to stump on ruby red Nebraska so soon before the election has also raised eyebrows.

“We win Georgia, we win everything!” Biden said. “These are the final days, so keep that sense of empowerment with you, that sense of optimism.”

Watch Trump’s comments above, via PBS NewsHour/Twitter.