Despite previously criticizing former President Donald Trump for banning travel from China in 2020, President Joe Biden has now imposed his own travel ban amid coronavirus fears from South Africa and several other countries.
The Biden administration is restricting travel into the United States from several African countries in response to a new strain of the coronavirus known as the Omicron variant. The countries on which this ban will be applied are South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi.
This is what Joe Biden tweeted as a presidential candidate last year the day after Trump imposed travel restrictions from China into the United States: “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.”
Here’s a screenshot of Joe Biden’s previous tweet:
Biden later tried to correct his xenophobic comment and during the debate claimed that he made a broad point about xenophobia and did not directly refer to the travel ban: “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,” Biden tweeted in March of 2020.
He also made comments about Trump’s temporary immigration ban from certain African countries in February 2020, tweeting: “Trump further diminished the U.S. in the eyes of the world by expanding his travel ban. This new “African Ban,” is designed to make it harder for black and brown people to immigrate to the United States. It’s a disgrace, and we cannot let him succeed.”
Vice-President Kamala Harris also criticized Trump on that issue by saying that “Trump’s extended un-American travel ban undermines our nation’s core values.”
WATCH: