Joe Biden at CNN Town Hall: William Barr sick for slavery comparison

Joseph R. Biden says it is “sick” for Attorney General Bill Barr to liken the calls for a nationwide coronavirus lockdown and stay-at-home orders to slavery.

Speaking at a CNN town hall Thursday, Mr. Biden, the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee, said Mr. Barr’s recent comments speak to a Trump administration gone wild.

“Quite frankly, they are sick,” Mr. Biden said. “Did you ever, ever, think, anyone of you, you’d hear an attorney general say that following the recommendations of the scientific community to save your and other people’s lives is the equivalent to slavery? People being put in chains?”

Mr. Biden said a big reason that people are unable to carry on with their normal lives is because the Trump administration blew the response to the coronavirus.

“I have been doing this for a long time. I never, ever, ever, thought I would see such a thoroughly, totally, irresponsible administration,” he said.

During a recent appearance at Hillsdale College, Mr. Barr panned the stay-at-home orders that governors issued to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

“Putting a national lockdown, stay at home orders is like house arrest,” Mr. Barr said. “Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, it’s the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history.”