Biden claims he was vice president during COVID-19: 'Barack said to me, go to Detroit'

President Biden said he was vice president during the coronavirus pandemic and that Obama sent him to Detroit to help.

Biden addressed an NAACP campaign event in Michigan Sunday night, where he repeatedly railed against his presumptive Republican opponent, former President Trump, while making an aside about the contagion, which began in 2019, as Fox News reported.

"When I was vice president, things were kind of bad during the pandemic," Biden said near the beginning of his remarks.

"And, what happened was Barack said to me: ‘Go to Detroit – help fix it.’"

Goings on in Detroit

The president continued by mentioning Mike Duggan, the Democratic mayor of Detroit, who was sat to Biden's right, saying, "Well, the poor mayor - he's spent more time with me than he ever thought he's going to have to."

Standing up, Duggan extended his hand to shake Biden's.

The pandemic, which was designated as COVID-19 because it was considered an outbreak in 2019 by global health officials, occurred in the latter years of Trump's presidency, not Obama's. Biden took over for Trump as the outbreak came to a close.

In another part of his speech, Biden brought up his time spent working with civil rights activists and made a joke about how his family's finances were affected by Detroit because his father, Joseph Biden Sr., was employed in the car industry.

The Rest of the Speech

Biden, who mostly used his speech to attack Trump, made the accusation that "MAGA Republicans" are planning to prohibit books and other causes he deemed radical at one point.

"All that progress is at risk. Trump is trying to make the country forget just how dark things were… when he was president," Biden said.

"We will never forget him lying about how serious the pandemic was, telling Americans ‘just inject bleach’ – I think that's what he did. I think that's why he's so screwy."

Jabs at Trump

Biden poked fun at Trump's nomination of additional Supreme Court judges by asking, "Do you think he'll put anybody [there] who has a brain?"

"It's clear when he lost in 2020, and I mean this sincerely: something snapped in Trump. He just can't accept he lost… That's why Jan. 6 happened."

Among Michigan registered voters, 49% favor Trump and 46% favor Biden, according to a mid-April Fox News Poll.

There was a two-point increase for Trump in that poll compared to the one in February. Biden had an eight-point lead over Trump in Michigan two years ago.