Biden vows to strengthen economy despite exploding pandemic

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Acknowledging that the nation is in a “dark” place, President-elect Joe Biden on Monday said his administration would strengthen the country's vulnerable economy despite the exploding pandemic as he pushed forward with the business of preparing to assume the presidency.

Biden, who will take office on Jan. 20, offered an optimistic assessment of the next four years during a meeting with several business and labor leaders ahead of an afternoon economic address from his makeshift headquarters in Delaware.

“To state the obvious, we seem to be turning a pretty dark corner now,” Biden told the group, their faces projected on video screens, as the meeting began.

“I don't want to be falsely optimistic,” he continued. But “I think we can do this.”

Biden, a Democrat, has vowed to spend trillions of dollars to reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing, expand health care coverage and combat climate change, among other priorities. But his chief priority remains controlling the coronavirus pandemic, which is surging to record levels and forcing state and local leaders to implement new rounds of restrictions on local businesses.

The president-elect has so far tried to sidestep difficult questions about whether he might support a short-term national lockdown to arrest the surge of coronavirus cases. Since defeating Trump, Biden has devoted most of his public remarks to encouraging Americans to wear masks and embrace social distancing measures.

But members of his coronavirus advisory board have been more specific. One member, Dr. Michael Osterholm, recently suggested a four- to six-week national lockdown with financial aid for Americans whose livelihoods would be affected. He later walked back the remarks and was rebutted by two other members of the...