Jacky Rosen endorses Joe Biden and his coronavirus plan

WASHINGTON — Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, a member of President Donald Trump’s task force to reopen the economy, on Thursday endorsed presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his coronavirus plan.

The Biden plan would be headed by the federal government, not the states. And Biden has vowed to protect the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, which Trump has sought to dismantle since taking office.

Rosen, a Democrat, said she endorsed Biden because of his commitment to the ACA, his plan to fight the coronavirus, and because her repeated calls to the administration for help with the pandemic in Nevada have gone unanswered.

“President Trump has failed to deliver time and time again,” Rosen said in a teleconference call with Nevada reporters.

“Americans deserve better,” she said.

The Biden plan, rolled out earlier this week, would centralize testing and distribution of supplies with the federal government to meet state and local needs. It would eliminate competition between the states to obtain supplies.

While sweeping, the campaign has not revealed the estimated cost of the plan, or how it would be funded.

Trump, meanwhile, in Thursday remarks at the White House, touted a U.S. Labor Department report that the economy added 4.8 million jobs in June as unemployment fell to 11.1 percent.

The president did not take questions, or comment, on the record number of COVID-19 cases reported in the United States on Wednesday, which at over 50,000 is the most since the pandemic hit.

In Nevada, the Trump Victory Campaign dismissed Rosen’s criticism of the president, and taunted Biden, who has curbed his campaign appearances during the pandemic.

“As Joe Biden hid in his basement, President Trump led an unprecedented and aggressive response to the coronavirus that saved lives and laid the groundwork for the great American comeback,” said Keith Schipper, a Trump Victory spokesman in Las Vegas.

“Nevadans want a leader, not a follower,” Schipper said.

Rosen did not endorse a Democratic presidential candidate prior to the Nevada caucus in February.

In April, Trump named Rosen as one of a handful of Democratic senators to his bipartisan Opening Up America Again Congressional Group to advise him on coronavirus policy.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.