Washington(CNN) President Donald Trump isn't the only one trying to calm the nation's rattled nerves during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Democratic candidates vying for his job in 2020 also spoke to the nation Thursday, warning the public to avoid large gatherings and criticizing Trump's handling of the outbreak.
In a presidential setting in front of American flags and at a podium, former Vice President and Democratic front-runner Joe Biden sharply criticized the President's decision to bar travel to the US from Europe as ineffective. He also knocked Trump for calling the coronavirus a "foreign virus" in his Wednesday night Oval Office address.
"Downplaying it, being overly dismissive, or spreading misinformation will only hurt us and further advantage the spread of the disease," Biden said. "But neither should we panic or fall back on xenophobia. Labeling COVID-19 a 'foreign virus' does not displace accountability for the mismanagement that we have seen from the Trump administration."
Biden added that "a wall will not stop it," and that "this virus has laid bare the severe shortcomings of the current administration. Public fears are being compounded by a pervasive lack of trust in this President, fueled by his adversarial relationship with the truth."
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who trails Biden in the Democratic primary, also delivered an address, calling this "a major, major crisis and we must act accordingly."
"Now is the time for solidarity, now is the time to come together with love and compassion for all, including the most vulnerable people in our society who will face this pandemic from a health perspective or face it from an economic perspective," Sanders said.
Sanders criticized the Trump administration as "largely incompetent" and added that its "incompetence and recklessness have threatened the lives of many, many people in our country."
The Point: Times of crisis put our leaders in sharp relief. They also offer a chance for would-be leaders to show their skills in a crisis situation.